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HISTORY OF 



NEW HAMPSHIRE 



BY 



JOHN N. MCCLINTOCK 





BOSTON 
B. B. RUSSELL, Cornhill 



Copyright, i88», 
By John N. McClintock- 



JHOonqtjm press, "^Soston. 



To 
H/S EXCELLENCY CHARLES H. SAWYER, 
Governor of New Hampshire, 
This work is respectfttlly dedicated by the 

AUTHOR. 



ERRATA. 



Page 21. For • Mohesran" read " Moiihesran." 



' 39 
* 40 

' 58 

' 69. 
' 71 

' 76 

■ 91 
' 108 



For " Cape Anne " read " Cape Ann." 

For " Rev. William Burdet " read " Rev. George 
Burilet." 

Title of illustration should read " Mouse of the Seven- 
teenth Century." 

For " George" read " Governor." 

For " Rev. James Langdon" read " R<.\ . S.muiel 
Langdoii." 

Illustration, " First Fort at the mouth of the Piscata- 
qua," was omitted. 

Illustration, " The Bell House, New Castle." was 
omittetl. 

Illustration, "Our Alley," was omitted. 



PREFACE. 



The Author and Compiler of this work desired to produce a 
book of reference for the home, for the ofifice, and for the 
public library, which would be available for the student and of 
interest to the general reader. For his facts he has drawn 
liberally upon Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap's History of New 
Hampshire, George Barstow's History, John M. Whiton's His- 
tory, Prof. E. D. Sanborn's History; the ten volumes of the 
Provincial and State Papers, edited by Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Bou- 
ton ; the six volumes edited by Lsaac W. Hammond, A. M. ; 
the eight volumes issued by the New Hampshire Historical 
Society; the three volumes, published by p-armer and Moore; 
the five volumes of the Adjutant-General's Reports, 1865, 1866, 
and 1868; Major Otis F. R. Waite's New Hampshire in the 
Rebellion ; the Life of William Plumer ; the Life of Jeremiah 
Mason ; the works of John Scribner Jenness ; the many town 
histories, county histories, and registers ; Manuscript Records 
in the Office of the Secretary of State ; Official Succession, by 
Hosea B. Carter; the Author's unpublished History of Pem- 
broke ; and the eleven volumes of the Granite Monthly. From 
the last he has taken bodily many sentences, paragraphs, and 
whole articles, which he considered especially worthy of repro. 
duction, from the pen of ex-Governor Charles H. Bell, LL. D. ; 
Samuel C. Bartlett, LL. D., President of Dartmouth College ; 
ex-Chief Justice J. Everett Sargent, LL. D. ; ex-Judge George W. 
Nesmith, LL. D. ; Hon. Joseph B. Walker ; Hon. Charles Levi 
Woodbury ; Mr. George Wadleigh ; General George Stark ; 
Rev. Dr. Alonzo H. Quint ; Mr. John Albee ; L. A. Morrison, 
A. M. ; Mr. Fred Myron Colby ; Mr. C. S. Spaulding ; Rev. 
Dr. F. D. Ayer ; Jolm M. Shirley, Esq. ; Rev. Dr. C. W. 
Wallace; Mr. Asa McFarland ; Mr. C. C. Lord; Dr. William 



G. Carter ; Rev. Daniel Rollins ; Mr. W. F. Whitcher ; Mr. L. 
W. Dodge ; and many others, — proper credit to whom is given 
in footnotes. 

By an oversight, several corrections were not made as marked 
in the proof, and errors have been printed in the whole edition 
but are noted among the Errata. 

Necessarily many facts and events of interest in New Hamp- 
shire history have been omitted ; many have simply been 
alluded to which would require many pages for their proper 
recital. There is enough history connected with every town 
in the State to require a large volume to contain it. A history 
of every regimental organization during the Rebellion should 
be, and is to be, printed. Hon. Charles H. Bell is preparing a 
History of the Bench and Bar of New Hampshire ; and Dr. 
Irving A. Watson is to issue an account of the doctors and 
the medical profession of the State. 

This work, such as it is, is submitted to the Public with the 
hope, on the Author's part, that it will be kindly received, and 
awaken an interest in historical research and in the preservation 
of the history of New Hampshire. 

J. N. M. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 
Discovery and Settleiments. 1623-1641. 

Pago 

Introduction — Description — Early Voyagers — Martin Pring — Cap- 
tain Jolin Smitli — Winter Fislieries — Aborigines — Virginia- — Coun- 
cil of Plynioutli — Sir Ferdinando Gorges — Captain Jolin Mason- — 
Mariana — Maine — David Ttiomson — Tlie Hiltons — First Settle- 
ment — Little Harbor — Dover Neck — Landing — Character — Pro- 
gress — Thomas Morton — Massachusetts Charter — New Hampshire 
Grant — Laconia — Hilton's Patent — Isles of Shoals — Piscataqua 
Grant — Walter Neal — White Mountains — Dixy Bull — Division of 
Patent — Death of Mason — Thomas Wiggin — Dover — Captain 
John Underbill — Rev. John Wheelwright — Exeter — Rev. Stephen 
Batchelor — Hampton — Union with Massachusetts .... 17 

CHAPTER II. 

Union with Mass.\chvsetts, 1641-1679. 

Laws — Courts — Judges — Masonian Claim — Deputies — Magistrates 
— Dover — Norfolk County — Town Lines — Roads — Portsmouth — 
Survey of Northern Boundary — Endicott Rock — Market — Dun- 
stable — Witchcraft — Quakers — King's Commissioners — Corbet — 
Masts — Sabbath Laws — Harvard College — Oyster River — Indian 
War — Effect of Union — Church History: Hampton — Exeter — 
Dover — -Portsmouth — Massachusetts Governors — Magistrates and 
Deputies 49 

CHAPTER III. 

Kii G Philip's War, 1675-1678. 

Long Peace — Character of Indians — Edward Randolph — French — 
Dutch — New York — Mohawks — Causes of War — Indian Vices — - 
Sachem Philip — Mount Hope — Rum — Indian Shortcomings — Lic- 
ensing the Sale of Arms — Loss to the Colonies — Loss to the Indians 
— Philip's Straits — Terms of Peace — French Estimate of Indian 



8 CONTENTS. 

I'JBS! 

Character — Kindness to Qiiakers — Injustice to Indians — Indian 
Youth anxious for War — Squando — Insult to Squaw — Attitude of" 
I'enacooks and Cochecos — Praying Indians — Their Loss — Murder 
of their Old People — Indian Depredations in New Hampshire — 
Peace — Death of Philip — Simon, Andrew, and Peter — War in 
Maine — Treachery at Major Waldron's Garrison — Expedition to 
Ossipee — Mohawks warring on Friendly Indians — Defeat at Black 
Point — Major Andros and Peace — Independence of the Colonists — 
St. Castine 77 

CHAPTER IV. 

Royal Province, 16S0-1692. 

Condition of affairs — John Cutt — Council — Assembly — Laws — 
Cafital Offences — Penal Offences — Grants Confirmed — Randolph 

— Barefoote — Mason — Richard Waldron — ■ Tax-Payers in New 
Hampshire — Cranfield — Edward Gove's Rebellion — Lawsuits — 
Appeal to King — Riots — Joshua Moodey — Dudley — ^Andros — Re- 
volution — Union with Massachusetts — King William's War . . 91 

CHAPTER V. 

KiNc; William's and Queen Anne's Wars, 16S9-1713. 

Causes — St. Castine — Grievances — • Richard Waldron's Death — 
Dover — Oyster River — Salmon Falls — Newington — Lamprey 
River — Wheelwright's Pond — Sandy Beach — Portsmouth — Ran- 
gers — Durham Massacre — Widow Cutt — Breakfast Hill — Return 
of Captives — Treatment of Captives — Queen Anne's War — Peace 
at Pemaquid — Eastern Settlements ravaged — Hampton — Kingston 

— Removal of Indians to Canada — Dunstable — Death of Colonel 
Winthrop Hilton — Peace — Condition of Parties .... 109 

CHAPTER VI. 
Royal Province, 169.2-1715. 

Samuel Allen — John Usher — New Council — Small Pox — Post Office 

— New Castle incorporated — Kingston incorporated — William Part- 
ridge ^ — Piscataqua Rebellion — Earl of Bellomont — Governor Allen 
-—John Usher — Mutilation of Records — New Trial of Claim — 
Appeal to King — Joseph Dudley — Decision of English Courts — 
Nashua — Offers of Compromise^ Death of Allen — Renewal of 
Suit — New Trial — Death of Thomas Allen — Hampton Falls — 
Newington 121 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 
RovAL Province, 1715-1722. 



I^.ige 



Introduction — George Vaiiglian — SanuieJ Shute — John Wentworth 

— Commerce — Two-Mile Slip — Scotch-Irish — Londonderry — Earl v 
Settlers — Chester 136 

CHAPTER Vlir. 

Royal Province. 17J2-1740. 

Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth — Governor Samuel Shute — 
Fourth Indian, or Lovewell's War — Indian Grievances — Depreda- 
tions in New Hampshire — Attack on Nashua — John Lovewell's Three 
Expeditions — Suncook — Peace — Penacook — Rye — Rumford — 
Timothy Walker — First Church of Concord — Hollis — Bow — Sun- 
cook Settled — Other Settlements — Newmarket — William Burnet — 
Jonathan Belcher — Death of Wentworth — Character — David Dun- 
bar — Durham — Amherst — Boscawen — Charlestown — Riot at Exe- 
ter — Commerce — Episcopal Chapel — Throat Distemper — .Suncook 
— -Boundary Line adjusted — Massachusetts Documents — Windham 
— -Retirement of Belcher ......... jji 

CHAPTER IX. 

Royal Province, 1741-1760. 

Governor Benning Wentworth — Wentworth Hall — Martha Hilton — 
A Cold Winter — Epping — Windham — Brentwood — French and 
Indian War — Louisburg — SirWilliam Pepperrell — Pepperrell House 

— William Vaughan — Number Four — Incorporation of various 
Towns — Rumford (Concord) — Wrestling Matches — Old Style and 
New Style — The Bow Case — Coos County — The "Seven Years' 
War" — -Rogers' Rangers — Rev. John Houston — An Audacious Re- 
connaissance — A Fierce Fight in the Woods — John Stark — Con- 
quest of Canada — Saint Francis Indians — Quebec and Montreal — 
Pontlac and Major Rogers — Rogers House 189 

CHAPTER X. 

Royal Province, 1760-1775. 

Hampshire Grants — Taxation by Parliament — Stamp Act — Its Re- 
peal — Resignation of Governor Benning Wentworth — Governor 
John Wentworth — His Popularity — Early Settlers — Their Customs 

— Gilmanton — Marlboro — Canaan — Enfield — Lyme — Orford — 
Bath — Lebanon — Hanover — GolTstown — Newport — Plainfield 



Pa^e 



Danville — Peterborough — Bow Controversy — Suncook — Candia 
— Wilton — New Ipswich — Lisbon — Gilsum — Lancaster — Clare- 
mont — Wentworth — Salisbury — Milan — Berlin — Hillsborough — 
Fitzwilliam — Annals of Portsmouth — Paul Revere- — Capture of 
Fort William and Mary — Holderness and the Livermores — White- 
field — White Mountain Notch — Colonial Laws 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Revoi-ution, 1775-1783. 

Lexington — Portsmouth Fortified — Bunker Hill- — General Stark — 
General Reed — Nottingham — Meshech Weare — House of Repre- 
sentatives — Gov. John Wentworth • — Gen. John Sullivan — Siege of 
Boston — ExettT in 1776 — Committee of Safety — Bennington — 
Stillwater — Saratoga — First Schoolm.asters — Keene Raid — Free- 
will Baptists — Samuel Livermore and Family — .Slavery — North- 
field — Shakers — Canterbury — General Stark 



CHAPTER XII. 

State under First Con.stitution, 1784-1792. 

Constitution of 1784 — First Legislature — First President — Council 
— Senate — House of Representatives — Lawlessness — Trouble at 
Keene — Mock Convention at Concord — John Langdon — John 
Sullivan — Mob at Exeter — Federal Constitution — Littleton — 
United States Constitutional Convention — Election under Constitu- 
tion — Members of the Continental Congress — -Officials at Ports- 
mouth — Josiah Bartlett — Town of Bartlett — Orange — Revision 
of Statutes — Constitutional Convention — .\ncient Singing . . 401 

CHAPTER XIH. 

State Government. 1792-1S12. 

John Taylor Gilman — Walpole — Mr. West — Milford — Turnpikes — 
Portsmouth — Methodists — Centre Harbor — Tithing Men — Death 
of Washington — Second New Hampshire Turnpike — ISanks — 
Laws — ^Judge Smith — Middlesex Canal — Judge Pickering — • Fed- 
eral Judges — Fourth New Hampshire Turnpike — Republicans — 
Post-Offices — Daniel Webster — Burnham — Navigation on the 
Merrimack — Embargo — Patriots — Governor Jeremiah Smith — 
Crow Bill —William Plumer 444 



CONTENTS. II 

CHAPTKR XIV. 

War of 1S12 — 1812-181?. 

Page 
Causes of the War — Right of Search — Orders in Council — Declara- 
tion of War — Governor William Plumer — State Militia — Daniel 
Webster — Governor John Taylor Gilman — Federalists restored to 
Power — Change of the Judiciary — Jereiniah Mason — Defence of 
Portsmouth — False Alarms — Hartford Convention — Peace . . 487 

CHAPTER XV. 

Struggle for Toleration, 1S15-1S19. 

The Federalists disband as a Party — Dartmouth College — September 
Storm — Middlesex Canal — Dartmouth University — State House 
— ■ Chief Justice Richardson — Daniel Webster — Baptist Denomina- 
tion — President Monroe's Visit — Governor Samuel Bell — Bristol 

— The Town House — The Toleration Act — Colonial Laws for the 
Support of the Ministry and Public Schools ..... 507 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Era of Good Will, 1819-1S2S. 

Power-Loom at Amoskeag — .Shelburne — New Hampton Hurricane 

— Levi Woodbury — David L. Morril — Great Freshet — Militia — 
General Lafayette's Visit — The Farmer — Governor Benjamin 
Pierce and Family — John Bell — Franklin. ..... ^30 

CH.VPTER XVII. 

Turnpikes, Canals, Railroads, 1S28-1S40. 

Journey from New Hampshire to Philadelphia — War against Turn- 
pikes — Matthew Harvey — Concord — Canal and River Navigation 

— Samuel Dinsmoor — Visit of Andrew Jackson — Murder in Pem- 
broke — New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane — William Badger 

— Nathaniel P. Rogers — Parker Pillsbury — Railroads — Isaac Hill 

— Surplus Revenue — Judge Boswell Stevens — End of Turnpikes 

— John Page — ■ Edmund Burke — James Wilson — Eastern Railroad 556 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Anti-slavery Agit.vtion, 1841-1860. 

Stephen S. Foster — Harry Hubbard — ■ Pittsburg — • Indian Stream 
War — John H. Steele — John P. Hale — Anthony Colby — Man- 
chester — Jared W. Williams — Samuel Dinsmoor, Jr. — Dr. Noah 
Martin — Franklin Pierce — Kansas — Countess Rumford — Nathan- 
iel B. Baker — Ralph Metcalf— Daniel Clark — William W. Haile 

— Ichabod Goodwin . — Reminiscences ....... .sSz 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIX. 
W.\R OF THE Rebellion, iS(')i-i865. 



Page 



Election of Abraham Lincoln — Seceding States — Firing on Sumter 

— First Regiment — Mason W. Tappan — Old Militia — ■ Governor's 
Horse Guards — Thomas L. Tullock-= Second Regiment — Gilman 
Marston — J. N. Patterson — ■ Nathaniel S. Berry — Third Regiment 

— Enoch Q. Fellows — John H. Jackson — J(i|in Bedel — Fourth 
Regiment — Thomas J. Whipple — Louts- Bell — Fifth Regiment — 

Ird E. Cross — Charles E. Hapgood — ESward E. Sturtevant — 
Sixth Regiment — Simon G. Griffin — Henry H. Pearson — Seventh, 
Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, 
Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Regiments — Colonel Henry 
O. Kent — Joseph A. Gilmore — Eighteenth Regiment — Cavalry, 
Artillery, and Sharpshooters — Summary of Number of Volunteers 

— E. H. Durell — George Hamilton Perkins . . . . .611 

CHAPTER XX. 

Irish in New Hampshire. 

Early Irish Settlers — Soldiers in Indian Wars — At Louisburg — Con- 
quest of Canada — Revolution — Emigration of J840-60 — Ship 
Fever — Terrors of the Plague — Hawthorne's Description — Mob in 
Manchester — Rebellion — Growth of Catholic Church — Bishop 
Bradley 631 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Since the Rebellion. 1S65-1SSS. 

Frederick Smyth — Sylvester Marsh — Provincial Papers — Rev. Dr. 
Bouton — Walter Harriman — Public Instruction — Academies and 
High Schools — -Joiin B. Clark — J. C. Moore — People — News- 
papers — Onslow Stearns — -James A. Weston — Bishop Baker — E. 
A. Straw — Asa Fowler — J. E. Sargent — Charles H. Burns — -P. 
C. Cheney — Phillips Exeter Academy — Constitutional Convention 
^ B. F. Prescott — J. F. Briggs — White Mountains — Natt Head 

— Charles H. Bell — Frank Jones — Ossian Ray — S. W. Hale — 
C. H. Bartlett — J. H.Gallinger —Moody Currier — C. H. Sawyer — 
Jonathan Sawyer — Joseph Wentworth — Jonathan Kittredge — W. 
E. Chandler — Harry Bingham — Railroads —J. W. White —Dr. 
Edward Spalding — Summer Resorts — Manufacturing — George H. 
Emery 646 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Seal of Province ....... Title Page 

SealofState ....... .- n 

Old Langdon Farmstead ....... i6 

White Mountain Range, from Milan ..... 19 

Great Bay .........' 32 

Scene in White Hills ....... 35 

Summit of the Ravine, White Mountains .... 36 

Farmhouse of Seventeenth Century ..... 5S 

Governor John Winthrop ...... 75 

The First Fort at the Mouth of the Piscataqua . ... 76 

An Indian visiting the Settlers ...... 78 

Garrison House, built about 1645 ..... 85 

Treaty of Peace between the Indians and the Settlers ... 86 

Death of King Philip ....... 87 

The Conflict ........ 90 

The Bell House, Newcastle ...... 91 

Our Alley ........ loS 

Garrison House in King William's War .... 112 

Hannah Dustin at the Massacre ...... 116 

The Well ......... 120 

Rev. John Emerson ....... 122 

Portion of Old Province House ...... 123 

Old Church, New Castle ....... 124 

Autograph and Seal of Theodore Atkinson .... 126 

Seal of Richard Jose ....... 126 

Map of New Castle ....... 127 

Cape Road, New Castle ....... 135 

New Castle Fishermen ....... 150 

First Congregational Church at Concord .... 166 

Plan of Eastern Part of Suncook, or Lovewell's Township . . 170 

Rural Scene ........ 172 

Piscataqua Gundalow ....... 1S8 

Old Wentwortli House, Rye ...... 190 

Mantel, Old Wentworth House ..... 193 

Frontier Block House, 1746 ...... 206 

White Mountain Scene ...... 226 

Scene in Coos County ....... 227 

New Hampshire Farm Scene ...... 276 



14 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Lancaster 

Warren .... 

Plymouth .... 

View from Bridge in Berlin 

Governor John Wentworth's House 

Paul Revere's First Ride 

Notch of White Mountains 

Battle of Lexington 

Post Rider of the Revolution 

Jaffrey Cottage, New Castle 

Governor John Taylor Oilman's House, Exeter 

Town House, Exeter 

Residence of Mr. Joseph B. Walker, Concord 

Littleton 

View of Portsmouth Harbor 

Giant Stairs, Bartlett 

Old Blodgett Mansion, Amoskeag Canal, 

With Wind and Current . 

Boat entering Locks 

Tow-path of the Canal 

Mending Lobster Nets 

Fort McClary 

On the Beach 

Whaleback Light . 

Walbach Tower 

Daniel Webster 

Gateway of Fort Constitution 

Shot of Lumber coming out of a Lock 

Pushing against the Current 

State House, Concord 

Squam Lake and Mount Chocorua 

New Hampton Institute 

Residence of Prof. A. B. Meservey 

Mount Carter, from Gorham 

New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane 

Railroad Cut 

View near Meredith Village 

Mount Washington Railroad 

Phillips Exeter Academy 

Echo Lake, Franconia Notch 

Castellated Ridge of Mount Jefferson 

Governor Charles H. Bell 

Hooksett 

Concord Depot 

Laconia 

George H. Emery 

Pembroke Academy 



LIST OF STEKL ENGRAVINGS. 



Governor Charles H. Sawyer 

Chief Justice Jeremiah Smith 

Hon. John P. Hale 

Hon. Abraham P. Olzendam 

General Gilnian Marston . 

Hon. Thomas L. TuUock 

Colonel Henry O. Kent 

Judge Edward H. Durell . 

Right Rev. Dennis M. Bradley, Bishop 

Governor Frederick Smyth 

Colonel John B. Clarke 

Hon. Joseph C. Moore 

Governor Onslow Stearns 

Governor James A. Weston 

Chief Justice J. Everett Sargent 

Hon. Charles H. Burns 

Governor Person C. Cheney 

Hon. Daniel M. Christie . 

Hon. James F. Briggs 

Hon. Aretas Blood 

Hon. Frank Jones 

Hon. Virgil C. Oilman 

Hon. Ossian Ray . 

Governor Samuel W. Hale 

Hon. Charles H. Bartlett 

Hon. Jacob H. Gallinger . 

Governor Moody Currier 

Mr. Jonathan Sawjer 

Colonel Joseph Wentworth 

Hon. William E. Chandler 

Hon. Harry Bingham 

Mr. Jeremiah W. White . 

Hon. Edward Spaldins; 



f Manchester 



Page 
Frontispiece. 
481 
.')94 
597 
611 
614 
628 
630 

631 
646 

6.« 
656 

657 
660 
661 
662 
667 
668 
674 
676 
677 
678 
678 
679 
680 
68 1 
6S2 
68s 
686 
689 
692 
693 






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HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



CHAPTER I. 

DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS, 1623-1641. 

Introduction — Description — Early Vovagers — Martin Pring — Cap- 
tain John Smith — Winter Fisheries — Aborigines — Virginia — • 
Council of Plymouth — Sir Ferdinando Gorges — Captain John 
Mason — Mariana — Maine — David Thomson — The Hiltons — First 
Settlement — Little Harbor — Dover Neck — Landing — Character 

— Progress — Thomas Morton — Massachusetts Charter — New 
Hampshire Grant — Laconia — Hilton's Patent — Isles of Shoals 

— PiscATAC(uA Grant — Walter Neal — White Mountains — Dixy 
Bull — Division of Patent — Death of Mason — Thomas Wiggin — 
Dover — Captain John Underhill — Rev. John Wheelwright — 
Exeter — Rev. Stephen Batchelor — Hampton — Union with Mass.\- 
chusetts. 

'T*HE history of New Hampshire involves an account of the 
first settlements at the mouth of the Piscataqua and on the 
shores of Great Bay, their growth into towns and their union 
under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Colony ; the forma- 
tion of the Royal Province of New Hampshire ; the woful 
conflict with the Indians and with the French ; the inroad into 
the province of the Scotch-Irish and the spread of Massachusetts 
settlers up the valleys of the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers ; 
the contest of the inhabitants with the Masonian proprietors ; 
the part taken by the people of the province in achieving national 
independence ; the formation of an independent State govern- 
ment ; the compact settlement of the State and the growth of 



l8 HISTORY OF NEW 1IA5IPSHIKE. [l523 

manufactures, railroads, and cities ; the share taken in the 
Great Rebellion ; the changes in the laws, habits and customs 
of the people ; together with some account of those men who, 
in the different generations, have guided and directed the 
destinies of the people in church, state and municipal affairs. 
It is the story of the evolution of a settlement of poor, unedu- 
cated, bigoted and brave people, fresh from the tyranny of the 
laws of the old world, and imbued with the prejudices of their 
time, into a sovereign state, a liberal and enlightened common- 
wealth, one of the partners in the great Republic, the United 
States of America. 

New Hampshire, one of the New England States and one of 
the original thirteen colonies which formed the American 
Union, lies between 70° ij' and 72° 37' west longitude, and 
between 42° 40' and 45° 18' 33" north latitude, and has an 
area of 9,336 square miles. It is bounded on the north by ine 
Province of Quebec, the line following Hall's stream to its 
source and the watershed between the valley of the St. Law- 
rence and the Atlantic coast ; it is bounded on the east by the 
state of Maine and the ocean, the Salmon Falls and Piscataqua 
rivers forming a part of the boundary ; it is bounded on the 
south by the State of Massachusetts, the line running north of, 
parallel with, and generally three miles from, the Merrimack 
river, from its mouth to where the course of the river is south, 
thence due west by compass to the Connecticut river; and 
it is bounded on the west by the State of Vermont, the west 
bank of the Connecticut river being the boundary line. The 
general shape of the State is that of a triangle, with a base of 
one hundred miles and a length of one hundred and eighty-five 
miles. It is drained on the west by the Connecticut river, on 
the east by the Androscoggin, the Saco and the Piscataqua 
rivers, while the central and southern part of the State is 
drained by the Merrimack river and its tributaries. Between 
the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers there is a high ridge, 
frequently rising to lofty elevations, extending from the Massa- 
chusetts line to the Franconia and White Mountain ranges, the 
loftiest summits on the Atlantic seaboard. The northern 



20 HISTOKV OF NEW II AMI'SHIKK. [ I 542 

section of the State is very mountainous. In the central part 
there are many large ponds and lakes, the grandest of which is 
Lake Winnipiseogee, with an area of seventy square miles, 
elevated five hundred feet above the ocean. The height of 
Mount Washington is 6,293 feet, and the mountainous tract of 
which it is the highest elevation occupies a territory of fourteen 
hundred square miles, sometimes called the Switzerland of 
America. The average elevation of the State above the sea is 
estimated to be twelve hundred feet.i 

Soon after the discovery of land beyond the Western Ocean 
by Christopher Columbus, in 1492, adventurous sailors from 
Spain, Portugal, France, Holland and England hastened to 
imitate the great discoverer and crossed the Atlantic in search 
of fame and fortune. As early as 1523, Verazzano, an Italian 
captain in the employ of the French government, sailed from 
Europe and struck America south of Cape Hatteras ; thence 
he followed the shore northward. From his accurate descrip- 
tion of the prominent landmarks, he probably landed, the fol- 
lowing summer, at or near the mouth of the Piscataqua river, 
and traded with the natives. He stated that the Portuguese had 
been before him in these parts. It was admitted by contem- 
porary writers that for half a century, from as early as 1504, 
the Basques were whaling and fishing on the American coast. 
The patent authorizing a settlement in Newfoundland, in 1610, 
says that the coast had been used for more than fifty years for 
the fishery by the English. In 1527, John Rut, sent by Henry 
VIII to explore, reported that he saw in the harbor of St. 
Johns "eleven sail of Normands, one Breton and two Portu- 
guese barks, all a fishing." A French fisherman rescued his 
party from starvEvtion. Jacques Cartier, in 1534 and 1535, 
explored the gulf and river of St. Lawrence, and reported that 
he met many ships of France and Brittany. Robeval, in 1542, 
found " seventeen ships of fishers " at St. Johns. 

The official explorers found on their voyages fleets of fisher- 
men already practical pilots of the coasts and harbors.^ 

Martin Pring, with two small ships, sailed into the Piscataqua 

' i'rof. C. H. Hitchcock. * = Charles Levi Woodbury. 



1614] niSCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS. 21 

ill June, 1603. The French discoverer, De Champlain, visitetl 
the river in July, 1605, and claimed the discovery of the Isles of 
Shoals.' 

Of the voyagers who visited the northern coast of America, 
for the sake of its furs and fish, one of the most remarkable 
was Captain John Smith, who ranged the shore from Penobscot 
to Cape Cod, in 1614, and, in his route, discovered the river 
Piscataqua, which he fountl to be a safe harbor with a rocky 
shore. ^ He states that, prior to this voyage, he had procured 
seven or eight charts from the fishermen and traders, who had 
been in the habit of frequenting the coast of New England, and 
that he did not enter the Merrimack river because two French 
ships were lying there. The French had traded with the 
natives in the vicinity for several years. '^ 

The map which Captain Smitli made was presented to 
''I'ince Chai'les, who gave to the whole country the name of 
New England. 

Early in the seventeenth centurj' it was discovered that fish- 
.ng along the New England coast was more profitable in winter 
•■.han in summer, a fact which soon led to permanent settle- 
ments, not only at the Isles of Shoals and at Little Harbor, 
but at Dover Point, York, Portland, Pemaquid and Mohegan, 
and at other points to the eastward. In fact, voyagers coming 
west attempted to make their landfalls at Mohegan and the Isles 
of Shoals, and took their departure from them, when returning 
to Eurojae.^ 

Before the advent of the first white settlers, there were living 
•within the present limits of New Hampshire a powerful tribe 
of Indians. F'or how many generations they had occupied the 
country and who were their predecessors, are unsettled ques- 
tions. There are few or no traces of a more civilized race 
having lived here before the Penacook Indians, a tribe of the 
Algonquin family. Their chief rendezvous was in the neighbor- 
hood of Concord, where they rudely cultivated the Indian corn. 
They subsisted chiefly on fish and game, and made annual 
migrations from the interior to the seaboard. In prehistoric 

' Jchn K. Lord. - John Farmer', Belknap, p. 2. 3 Charles Levi Woodbury. 



22 HI.S1\)KV OF XF.W II AM I'sH 1 KK [162O 

times there is a tradition that a fierce battle tiecurred Ijetween 
them and their enemies, the Mohawks of the west, on the east 
bank of the Merrimack, near the village of East Concord. In 
the early part of the seventeenth century their number is said 
to have been greatly reduced by a plague. One of their favorite 
haunts was about the shores of Lake Winnipiseogee, where many 
traces of them may yet be found. The names they gave to the 
lakes and streams and mountains have been adopted by those 
who came after them. They continued to live within the 
limits of the State for a hundred years after tlie first settlement 
by Europeans, and their history is closely linked with that of 
the settlers, until the remnant, left after many disastrous wars, 
withdrew and joined their people on the banks of the St. Law- 
rence. In the main Ihev were friendly to the colonists, but 
seem to have been drawn into hostilities b_\- neighboring tribes, 
under the influence of the French. 

The importance of effecting permanent settlements on the 
coast having become apparent, King James, in 1606,^ granted 
a patent limiting the dominion of Virginia from the thirty-fourth 
to the forty-fourth degree of northern latitude. This territory 
was subdivided into North and South Vi^rginia ; South Virginia 
was assigned to certain noblemen, knights and gentlemen of 
London ; North Virginia was granted to others of Bristol, Exeter, 
and Plymouth." 

In-1620,^ the King, by his sole authority, constituted a council 
of forty, by the name of " The council established at«Plymouth, 
in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling and go\-erning 
of New England, in America."* 

They were a corporation with perpetual succession, by election 
of the majority, and their territories extended from the fortieth 
to the forty-eighth degree of northern latitude. This patent, or 
charter, is the foundation of all the grants that were made of 
the country of New England. For some unexplained reason, 
their affairs were transacted in a confused manner from the 
beginning, and the grants which thev made were so inaccurately 

■ April i.j. = Farmer's F.dknan. 

J November?. 4 H.ir.ird's Collection. loj-riS. 



l62l] DISCOVEKV AND SETTLEMENTS. 23 

described and interfered so much with each other as to occasion 
difficulties and controversies of a serious character.' 

Two of the most active members of this council were Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason. The former 
had been an officer in the navy of Queen Elizabeth, intimately 
connected with Sir Walter Raleigh, and had been appointed by 
King James governor of the fort and island of Plymouth. While 
he resided there, Captain Weymouth brought from Pemaquid 
into the harbor of Plymouth five American Indians, whom he 
had treacherously kidnapped.^ Three of these Gorges retained 
in his service several years, treated them kindly, won their 
affection, and learned from them the character of New England. 
He became very enthusiastic about the new world, fitted out 
several expeditions to visit this coast, and upon the formation 
of the Plymouth Council was elected its president. Captain 
John Mason was a merchant of London, who became a sailor 
and was appointed governor of Newfoundland. While there he 
befriended two Indians, who had been forcibly abducted from 
New England and sold into slavery by Thomas Hunt, a lieuten- 
ant of Captain John Smith, and won their good will by sending 
them to their homes. 

While in Newfoundland he acquired a knowledge of America, 
it being asserted by late writers that, in company with his friend 
Gorges, he personally explored the coast of his future province, 
and upon his return to England, receiving the appointment of 
governor of Portsmouth in Hampshire, he became interested in 
the Plymouth Council. A vacancy occurring he was elected a 
member and became the secretary. He procured a grant from 
the council, in 1621,^ of all the land from the river Naumkeag, 
now Salem, round Cape Ann to the river Merrimack, and all 
land embraced by these two rivers to their heads, and all out- 
lying islands within three miles of the shore. The district was 
called Mariana, and was granted on the supposition that the two 
rivers forming its bounds flowed directly east from their source 
to their outlet. The following year* Gorges and Mason received 

■ Farmer's Ilelknap. 2 J. C. A. Abbott. 

■3 March 9. i6.'2. Palfrey, 204. 4 August 10, 1622. 



24 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [162I 

jointly the grant of territory, which included all the land between 
the Merrimack and the Sagadahock rivers, from the ocean to the 
great lakes and rivers of Canada.^ 

The grant of that date in the New Hampshire Provincial Pa- 
pers^ gives the name The Provinxe of Maine to the territory, 
which is thus described : "All that part of the main land in New 
England lying upon the sea-coast betwixt ye rivers of Merrimack 
and Sagadahock, and to the furthest heads of the said rivers, and 
soe forwards up into the land westward until three-score miles 
be finished from ye first entrance of the aforesaid rivers, and 
half way over: that is to say, to the midst of the said two rivers." 

Under the authority of this grant, Gorges and Mason, who 
united with them several merchants of London, Bristol, Exeter, 
Plymouth, Shrewsbury and Dorchester, attempted the establish- 
ment of a colony and fishery at the river Piscataqua. 

' The time when, the manner in which, and the individuals by whom the 
first settlements were made by Europeans at Little Harbor and Dover Point, 
where, it is generally acknowledged, the original " planting" of New Hamp- 
shire was comj^ienced, are so obscure, and have been so frequently a matter 
of controversy, that historians gladly welcome all attempts which are made 
to elucidate them. 

For more than two hundred years, on the authority of Hubbard, Prince, 
and other early historians, followed by Belknap, the facts in relation to 
these settlements, briefly stated and generally accepted, were, that Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges and Capt. John Mason, having obtained from the 
Council constituted by the King of Kngland, •' for the planting, ruling and 
governing of New England," a grant of all the land between the rivers 
Merrimack and Sagadahock, extending back to the great lakes and river of 
Canada, formed a company with several merchants of London and other 
cities, and styling themselves " The Company of Laconia," attempted the 
establishment of a colony and fishery at the mouth of the Piscataqua river. 
For this purpose, in the spring of 1623, they sent out David Thomson and 
Edward and William Hilton, who had been fishmongers in London, with a 
number of other people, in two divisions, furnished with all the necessaries 
for carrving out the design. Thomson landed at the river's mouth, at a 
place which he called Little Harbor, where he built a house, afterwards 
known as "Mason Hall," erected saltworks, and made other preparations 
for carrying on his business, but the Hiltons set up their fishing stages eight 
n'.iles further up the river, on a neck of land which the Indians called Winni- 
chahannet, but they named it Northam and afterwards Dover. Thomson, 

> Palfrey and Belknap. - Provincial Papers, vol. i, p. 10. 3 Cenrge Wadleigh. 



iGjiJ discovery and settlements. 25 

not lieing pleased witli his conipanv or siluation, removed the next spring, 
or a short time after, to an island in Massachusetts Bay, where he lived and 
soon alter died, while the Hiltons and their associates remained and made a 
permanent settlement at Dover. 

All etVorts to ascertain the precise date of their arrival, or the ship in 
which they came, had proved unavailing. The day of the month and the 
month were unknown. In 1S23, at the celebration of the 200th anniversary 
of the settlement of the State, at Portsmouth, when it was considered desir- 
able to fix upon the d.av of their arrival, if possible, for the purpose of suit- 
ably observing it, all efforts to do so were found to be in vain. It was then 
declared that " Prince, the most laborious of all antiquaries in New England, 
in 1736, could give no precise date, and no discovery of documents since has 
made it more definite" than that the3' arrived in the spring of the year. 
From the fact that no vessel was known to have arrived from England in 
that year until about June i, it was conjectured that the colonists might 
liave been landed at the Piscataqua late in May, and May 23 Avas accord- 
ingly selected for the celebration. 

These statements remained unquestioned and were incorporated in all our 
histories and school books, imlil a document found among the ancient 
papers of Gov. Winthrop' gave a different reading to our early history. 
This document is an indenture, dated Dec. 14, I622, between David Thomson 
on the one part, and three merchants. Abraham Colmer. Nicholas Sherwill 
and Leonard Pomroy, all of Plymouth, England, on the other , irt. 

'Ihe indenture recites that the Council for New England had granted to 
Thomson (Oct. 16, 1622) six thousand acres of land and one island in New 
England, and that Thomson had conveyed one quarter part of the island to 
the three merchants named and agreed also to convey to them one quarter 
part of the six thousand acres, on these conditions : — 

1. That the three merchants, at their own charge, should provide and 
send that present 3'ear two men with Thomson, in the ship Jonathan of 
Plymouth, to Mew England, with such victuals, provisions, &c., as shall 
suffice them till they are landed. 

2. The three merchants, at their own charge, were also to provide and 
send the same year three additional men in the ship Providence of Plymouth, 
if they could so soon be gotten, or in some other ship, to New England: the 
charges of these three men to be borne equally by all the parties. 

3. Two other men were also to be sent the same year in the Jonathan ; 
the charges to be borne by all the parties equally. 

4. Thomson, with the seven men, as soon as landed, was to find a fit 
place and make choice of six thousand acres of land and a fit place to settle 
and erect buildings. 

Further provision was made for dividing the property at the end of five 
years agreeably to the indentures, three fourths to Thomson and one fourth 

^ Now in the possession of his descendant, Hon. Robert C Winthrop. \ copy of it has beeiT 
oublished in tile proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, with notes by Charles 
Deane, Esq. 



26 HISTOKV OK XliW IIAJIPSHIKE. [162I 

to the other three. Three fourths of the charge for phmting, building, 
<S:c., was to be borne by Thomson, and one fourth by the others. All 
the profits from fishing, trading, &c., were to be divided equally, the 
three mercliants having liberty to employ the ships to fish, at their own 
charge, if Thomson did not choose to bear his share of such charge. 

From this agreement it appears reasonably certain that Thomson did 
come over as stipulated, arriving at the mouth of the Piscataqua sometime 
in the spring of 1623, as Hubbard has recorded. By the indenture he was to 
proceed "this present year" (1622). By the method of reckoning at that 
time, the year ended on the 24th of March following. It is equally certain, 
however, that he did not come out as the agent of the Company of Laconia, 
for that company was not then in existence, not having been formed until 
1631. This error appears to have originated with Dr. Belknap, who knew 
that Mason and Gorges had a grant (Aug. 10, 1622) embracing the terri- 
tory between the Merrimack and Sagadahock, which they intended to call 
the Province of Maine, but of which they never made any use, as the council 
afterwards made other grants covering the same territory. Dr. Belknap 
also knew that Mason and Gorges, with other persons, were members of the 
Company of Laconia, From this and some statements of Hubbard, he 
doubtless concluded that the grant of 1622 was the Laconia grant, and that 
the associates, under the name of the Company of Laconia, began the settle- 
iiient at Little Harbor and Hilton's Point in 1623. It is now known that the 
Laconia Patent was not issued until Nov. 17, 1629, and the company was 
formed soon after. 

There is no direct evidence in the indentures, that the Hiltons were 
associated with Thomson in the enterprise, either as partners or servants. 
From this fact and other considerations drawn from contemporaneous 
history, Mr. Jenness, in his "Notes on the First Planting of New Hamp- 
shire," discredits the statement of Hubbard, and claims that the Hiltons 
never saw Dover Point until five or six years after Thoinson and his partv 
landed at Little Harbor, oral least that no settlement could have been made 
there in 1623. as has been generally believed. 

To establish this position he quotes the early historians to show that no 
such place was known to, or once spoken of, by any of the visitors of Tliom- 
.son, of whom there were several, during the years 1623 and 1624; that it is 
absurd to suppose that Edward Hilton, without any colony to assist him, 
should have gone so far from the succor of his friends, into the wilderness, 
in the midst of treacherous and cruel savages, when the whole country 
practicallv lav open iftfore him, to go in and occupy where he would; that 
the "stages," which it is alleged were set up at the Point, were "large and 
expensive structures " intended for use in the fishing business, and that " no 
experienced fisherman would have selected such a site for a fishing estab- 
lishment, five or six miles above the mouth of the Piscataqua, a stream of 
such rapidity' that it is often impossible for a boat to contend against it, 
while the great cod fisheries are several miles out at sea, which a fisherman, 
leaving Hilton's Point at the very turn of the ebb tide, could not reajh and 
return from the same day, if he stopped to cast his hook." 



l62l] DISC0VI:K\ AM) SETTLEMENTS. 2/ 

As to the tact of priority of settlement, if a mere iisliiiig and trading post 
is to be regarded as such, we may as well admit that at Little Harbor (now 
in the town of Rye) the first planting of New Hampshire was commenced. 
There is no doubt that Thomson and his men first disembarked, at or near 
that place, and pitched their tents or erected such huts as \yere requisite for 
shelter. Its site is now known as Odiorne's Point, and was well chosen for 
defence against the attacks of an enemy. Seyen men were to be furnished to 
assist him. Four were to come oyer in the Jonathan, and three more were 
to be provided the same year. 

It is reasonable to conclude that Edward Hilton may have come over from 
Kngland in one of the vessels which brought David Thomson and his men to 
th-' I'iscataqua, on his own account, if not as an assistant of Thomson, as 
Hubbard asserts. David Thomson is described by Thomas Morton, in "The 
New England Canaan," as ''a Scottish gentleman tliat was conversant with 
those people (the natives), a scholar, and a traveller that \yas diligent in 
taking notice of these things, as a man of good judgment." The Hiltons 
had been fishmongers in London, and were acquainted with at least one 
branch of the business in which Thomson was to engage. They were just 
the men who would be selected to assist in the enterprise. William Hilton 
had previously been in America. He came to Plymouth in 1621, and his 
wife and two children came over in 1623. He may have gone back and 
returned with them, or they may have come over to join him here. Hubbard, 
who wrote in 16S0, is supposed to have been personally acquainted with the 
Hiltons, and must have had some knowledge of their history and movements. 
William Hilton had a grant of land in Plymouth in 1623, but he left that 
place soon after, apparently on account of some disagreement in relation to 
church matters, and is found ne.\t at Piscataqua with his brother. 

As the business of Thomson and his assistants was to be fishing, and 
trading with the Indians, it is not probable that they would all remain 
permanently in the same place. The Hiltons, with one or more of the party, 
after seeing the others safely established at the mouth of" the river, may have 
come up to the Point, as Hubbard records. Or, as the party is said to have 
come over in ■' two divisions," it is more probable that they did not arrive 
until after Thomson and the four men who came in the Jonathan liad estab- 
lished themselves at Little Harbor. Of the other three who were to be 
provided and sent over in the Providence, tlie Hiltons may have been two. 
The tradition has always been that Thomas Roberts was one of the original 
emigrants with them. If he was, this would complete the number which was 
to be provided. 

The distance between Little Harbor and the Point was but si.K or seven 
miles, and the location at the Point was doubtless at first selected for the 
convenience of trading with the Indians about the falls of the Cochecho, a 
favorite resort with them. It was also in the vicinity of good fishing 
ground, for the various branches of the Piscataqua, up to their first falls, 
must at that day 1 as they did long after and do now at some seasons) iiave 
swarmed with fish, and there was no need of going far to cast the hook and 
obtain them. 



28 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [162I 

It is not supposed that a party of three men, at tlie most, would go miles 
at sea to the great fishing grounds, to obtain fish, when there was an abun- 
dance offish so near them, or that large and expensive stages were required 
for curing them. By the terms of the indenture, the owners of the Jonathan 
were to pursue the fishing business independently of Thomson and his men» 
if he did not choose to bear part of the charge. It is probable that the 
vessels from England attended to the deep sea fishing, while th; parties ort 
shore confined their operations to the harbor and rivers. 

If the Hiltons were never mentioned by visitors to Little Harbor in 1623 
and 1624. the same may be said of the other men who were with Thomson. 
The name of no man who was with him — and there were seven — is known, 
unless we accept the statement of Hubbard. 

It may have been that the fishing and trading post at the Point was at the 
outset regarded rather as a temporary than permanent settlement — a place 
to which at first they resorted only during the day, returning at night to the 
common rendezvous at the mouih of the river. But its advantages must 
have been soon seen and appreciated. The " whole country was open before 
them, to go in and occupy where they would," and they could hardly have 
found a more inviting place than the Point, either for fishing, planting, or 
trading with the Indians — exchanging such articles as they brought with 
them from England for the beaver skins and other peltries of the Indians. 
For safety, no resort could have been better than this narrow neck of land, 
and from which, by their boats, there were such immediate means of escape, 
if escape was at any time necessary. For planting, also, in which they were 
to engage, so far at least as they could contribute to their own wants, the 
Point was of all places the spot which they would select, and was far prefer- 
able to any land nearer to Little Harbor. 

Thomson's enterprise, it appears, was not a success. He abandoned it 
after about three years' residence (by some accounts " the next year ") and 
removed to Massachusetts, Hubbard says, " out of dislike either to the place 
or his employers." His son is said to have been the first white child born 
in New Hampshire. He never set up any claim afterwards to the patent, nor 
does it appear that his partners in England reaped any advantages froni 
it. Thomson's men are supposed to have remained at Little Harbor after 
his departure, but even this is uncertain. The only evidence that it was occu- 
pied is that there was a settlement somewhere at '■ Piscataquack," besides 
Hiltons' in 162S, and that such a settlement paid £2: 10 as its contributior* 
for expelling Morton from Merry Mount. What is thei-e more probable thar» 
that the Hiltons m.iy liave remained at the Point or in its vicinity, with 
some of the other men of the company, after Thomson left ? 

If, as it is alleged, there is no authentic information of Edward Hilton's 
being in this vicinty previous to 1627 or 1628, the information which we get 
of him at that time is suflicient to show that he must have been settled here 
for some years and that he had a considerable stake in the country. In 162S, 
as recorded by Bradford, he was assessed £1 toward the expense of the war 
upon Morton of Merry Mount, already alluded to. the whole expense of the 



1623] DISCOVEKV AXD SETTLEMKXTS. 29 

campaign being £12 .-07, ot" which tlie Plymouth colony paid £2 : 10, or but 
little more than twice the amount contributed by Hilton. It is also evident 
that the Hiltons must have been among the men which the partners of 
Thomson provided and sent over in 1623, from the fact that they settled so 
near to Little Harbor, on territory which must have been included within 
that which Thomson's patent covered, where they would not have been, by 
any right, had they not been connected with Thomson's company, and that 
when in 1630 Edward Hilton obtained a patent from the council of Plymouth 
of the land upon which he had settled he had been for some considerable time 
■established thereon, so long, in fact, that the place had come to be known 
bv his name, for his patent included "all that part of the river Piscataqua 
called or knovan bv the name of Hilton's Point, with the south side of said 
river, up to the falls of Squamscott and three miles into the main land for 
breadth," and it sets forth that Hilton and his associates had "transported 
thither servants, built houses and planted corn, and intended the further in- 
crease and advancement of the plantation.'' 

It cannot be believed that Hilton foundeda plantation at Hilton's Point in 
1623, seven years before he got a deed of the land. If he came out with or 
soon after Thomson, it is seen for what purpose he came. He was one of the 
men sent out by Thomson's partners, the merchants in England, to assist in 
the enterprise, and as a representative of their interest in it. He had no legal 
claim to the scU under the patent. Thomson gave up his claim and went off 
before the expiration of the five years, when the profits of the enterprise as 
well as the land were to be divided between the parties. The patent granted 
was evidently regarded by him as of little value, because neither he or his 
heirs, or his partners, ever afterwards set up anv claim to it. All the interest 
which they possessed at Little Harbor passed into the hands of the Laconia 
Company, of which Gorges and Mason were chiefs, under a new grant from 
the council, when Edward Hilton, for his own security, finding himself aban- 
doned by Thomson and the company by which he had been employed, ob- 
tained, in 1630, a patent for the settlement at the Point. This patent he after- 
wards sold in part to other parties, who appointed Captain Thomas Wiggin 
their agent, by whom, in 1633, ^ considerable acquisition was obtained to the 
popu hition. 

The Laconia Company, in the meantime, having obtained possession of the 
lands granted to Thomson at Little Harbor, appointed Captain Neal as their 
agent, not for the settlement of a colonv, but for the management of a fisli- 
ing and tradii:g companv, a speculation similar to that in which Thomson 
had been engaged. In a few years this company broke up and the servants 
were discharged; the whole scheme proving a failure. On a division of the 
property Mason bought the shares of some of his associates and sent over a 
new supply of men, set up saw-mills, and soon after died. 

The Thomson house erected at Little Harbor in 1623, though built of stone, 
could have been no such substantial structure as is imagined. It is not 
probable that "it presented the general appearance of the dwelling 
houses of the time of James I., vast numbers of which still remain in good 



^O IIISTOKV OF M;\V IIAMI'SIIIRE. ['625 

preservation all over the old country'," as Mr. Jenness states. Had it been of 
this character it would hardly have been reduced to the dilapidated condition 
in which it was found by Hubbard in 16S0, less than fifty years after its erec- 
tion, when only " the chimney and some parts of the stone wall were stand- 
ing." It is probable that, as it must have been hastily built, it only sufficed 
for the immediate needs of Thomson and his little party, as a shelter from the 
elements. Such as it was it passed into the hands of Mason's men, and was 
sometimes called his " stone-house." though it is now conceded that the term 
'• Mason Hall'' was never, as has been popularly supposed, applied to it. 

Further researches, which will undoubtedly be made by those who feel an 
interest in the early history of the State, may remove any doubts which now 
exist in relation to its first settlement. In England there are in all proba- 
bility records which would throw light on the subject. Until this investigation 
is made Little Harbor is entitled to the monument which it is proposed to 
erect " in commemoration of the first settlement of New Hampshire." be- 
cause it is the place where Thomson, the leader in the enterprise, and his as- 
sociates, first touched its soil ; and Dover Neck, the site of the first meeting- 
house erected in the State, is also entitled to a monument in commemoration 
of that fact as well as that contemporaneous with the settlement at Little 
Harbor, or very soon thereafter, a portion of the same company established 
themselves in thai \ icinity. 

Under the lead of David Thomson, this little band of ad- 
venturers, evidence to the contrary not being obtainable, prob- 
ably arrived at the mouth of the Piscataqua sometime in the 
early summer of 1623 ; and as their little vessel, with its high 
stern and antique prow, floated into the land-locked harbor 
of Portsmouth, with its islands decked to the water's edge 
with verdure, and on every side the lofty pines, the stately 
oaks, and the flowering shrubs of the primeval forest indicat- 
ing a generous soil, the change from a long sea voyage, with 
its storms and fogs and terrors, to a peaceful haven, — more 
enchanting then in its wild and picturesque beauty than now, 
with its navy yard, coal pockets, spile-bridge, and evidences of 
thrift and commerce, — must have been welcome. Their not 
leaving on record an account of their hardships is evidence 
that they arrived at an auspicious time. They must have been 
delighted with the prospect. Here they and their children were 
to found a State. 

It was a goodly scene. Fair islands lay, 
In xirgiii beauty, greening to their marge, 



jgj .1 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS. 31 

Ent'oIciLtl in tlie atmosphere of June. 
The birds sang welcome to the stranger ships, 
And from their coverts timid deer looked out 
To shvlv scan the unfamiliar sight. 

Far swept the coast, marked by its piny fringe, 
And there upon the near horizon's verge 
Rose gentle isles, with verdure clad, that seemed 
Fair satellites of the majestic main. 
Resting, like emerald bubbles, on the sea. 
And all was wonderful and new and grand! 

It is probable that before disembarking their goods they met 
the grave and friendly natives in council, and in return for 
knives, fish-hooks, gaudy beads, and such commodities, obtained 
the good will of the lords of the soil, permission to start their 
settlement, and the right to all the land they could use for years 
to come. 

The Hilton brothers, who afterwards became so prominent in 
the plantations, probably e.vplored the river and Great Bay and 
located their infant colony with reference to the future agricul- 
tural prospects of the region round about. They may have 
bought of the Indians a deserted corn field, — cleared land being 
of the utmost importance to those early comers, — -but the sea 
afforded a never-failing supply of cod-fish ; salmon and trout 
were in the river and brooks ; clams were on the shore; game 
was in the woods, and birds were flying overhead or feeding" in 
the marshes. 

Any land about Great Bay, with its islands, creeks, and sinu- 
osities, like a section of a park in the domain of some mighty 
monarch, must have seemed good to these Englishmen. All 
their lives they had been cramped for room on the estate of 
some landowner of the old world, who valued his game and his 
trees more than the lives of his tenants. Here they could have 
land for the taking ; its value would depend on the labor ex- 
pended. Here they could grow, and their children in coming gen- 
erations would rival, in store of worldly goods and breadth of 
mental culture, the descendants of the ancient nobility of Europe. 

I By B. P. Shillaber. a native r,f Portsmouth. 



HISTOKV OF NEW IIA MPSIUIIE. 



"1620 



They were fishermen, farmers, laborers and servants. Some of 
them ignorant of tlielearniiigoftlie schools, superstitious, imbued 
"witli the prejudices of the time ; some of the Established Church, 
sonic Puritans, but all pious after a fashion; the most of them 
honest, believing in fair play and scorning treachery and hypoc- 
risy. They were self-reliant and law-abiding, and being left in 
a few years without lawful authority over them were competent 
to establish a little State of their own. Without a lawfully consti- 
tuted ruler, they did not lapse into anarchy, but accepted of tiieir 
own will the strong government and stern justice of their ascetic 
nei- libors of the Bay colony. 




GREAT BAY. 

The scattered settlements from Plymouth to the Piscataqua, 
made during these years, maintained a neighborly intercourse, 
following their respective employments of fishing, trading and 
planting, until, in 1628, they were united in a common alarm bv 
the course pursued by Thomas Morton, who, from his station at 
Mount Wollaston or Merry Mount, was charged with furnishing 
arms and ammunition to the Indians. Eight settlements along 
the ct)ast shared the expense of arresting Morton and sending 



1632] DISCOVERV AND SETTLEMENTS. 33 

him to England for trial. The settlement at the mouth of the 
Piscataqua paid towards the expense the same as the colony at 
Plymouth, and over twice as much as that at Dover, showing 
their relative importance.^ 

Morton is said to have returned to New England and is re- 
ported to have died at one of the Piscataqua settlements. 

To understand the early history of New Hampshire it becomes 
necessary to consider the various grants issued by the Plymouth 
Council, for these grants led to a conflict of interests and a strug- 
gle which lasted for over a hundred years and was not finally 
settled until the breaking out of the Revolution. The grant to 
Gorges and Mason of 1622 was not perfected, nor was the earlier 
one to Mason of Mariana, for we learn from a grant by the 
Plymouth Council to Sir Henry Roswell, dated March 19, 1627-8, 
that he and his associates were entitled to all lands embraced 
between the Charles river and the Merrimack river, and also 
all lands "which lie * * within the space of three English 
miles to the northward * * of the Merrimack or to the north- 
ward of any and every part thereof." The following year- King 
James I chartered the Massachusetts Company, confirming to 
them the early grant to Roswell. 

November 7, 1629, the Plymouth Council, "upon mature de- 
liberation, thought fit, for the better furnishing and furtherance 
of the plantations in those parts, to appropriate and allot to 
several and particular persons divers parcels of land within the 
precincts of the aforesaid granted premises," and deeded to 
Captain John Mason "all that part of the mainland in New Eng- 
land lying upon the sea-coast, beginning from the middle part of 
the Merrimack river, and from thence to proceed northwards 
along the sea-coast to Piscataqua river, and so forwards up with- 
in the said river and to the furtherest head thereof, and from 
thence north-westward until three score miles be finished from 
the first entrance of Piscataqua river; also from Merrimack 
through the said river and to the furtherest head thereof, and so 
forwards up into the lands westwards, until three score miles be 
finished ; and from thence to cross overland to the three score 



34 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1632 

miles end acconipted from Piscataqua river; * * which said 
portions of land, * * the said Captain John Mason, with 
the consent of the President and Council, intends to name New 
Hampshire." 1 

It would seem that Mason had the earliest claim to the three- 
mile strip north of the Merrimack river from previous grants ; 
but his claim was never sustained, and the land, so far up the 
river as Pawtucket Falls, went into the undisputed possession of 
the Massachusetts Company and remained there ever after. 

Captain John Mason died in November or December, 1635,- and 
left his title to lands in New England to be a source of litiga- 
tion to his heirs for several generations, as will hereafter appear.^ 

In the spring of 163 1, Edward Hilton and his associates 
received from the Plymouth Council the grant of Dover Neck. 

After his grant of 1629 had been confirmed to him, Captain 
Mason was especially active in advancing the interests of his 
manor in New Hampshire. He sent over eight Danes to build 
mills, saw timber, and make potash, and forwarded twenty-two 
women to the colony. At Newichwannock he built the first 
saw-mill and corn-mill in New England, and a large house, well 
fortified. The " great house," so-called, was at Piscataqua, or 
Strawberry Bank. He imported a large number of cattle, from 
which descended the so-called native cattle of New Hampshire 
and Maine. At about this time, the Isles of Shoals, which, 
while one of the earliest, was one of the most important fishing 
stations on the coast, was divided between Gorges and Mason, 
the southern section, in after years, becoming incorporated as a 
New Hampshire town by the name of Gosport. 

After the grant to Hilton, Captain John Mason and his asso- 
ciate adventurers obtained a further grant from the Plymouth 
Council of "that part of their patent on which the building and 
salt-works were erected, situate on both sides the harbor and 
river Piscataqua, to the extent of five miles westward by the 
sea-coast, then to cross over towards the other plantation in the 

■ N. H. Provincial Papers, vol. i. p. 24. = N. Bouton, D.D. 

3 By patent of Plymouth Council to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason, dated 
Nov. 27, 1629, Lacoma was granted, including " lands lying and bordering upon the great lakes and 
rivers of tlie Iroquois and other nations adjoining." 



1632] DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS. 35 

hands of Edward Hilton." The whole interest having been 
divided into two parts, Captain Thomas Wiggin was appointed 
agent for the upper, and Captain Walter Neal for the lower 
plantation. With Neal were associated Ambrose Gibbons, 
George Vaughan, Thomas Warnerton, Humphrey Chadbourne, 
and Edward Godfrey, as superintendents of trade, fishery, salt- 
making, building and husbandry. Neal resided at Little Harbor 
with Godfrey, who had the care of the fishery. Chadbourne 
built the ^/r^/ //('//.rr at Strawberry Bank, in which Warnerton 
resided. Gibbons had the care of the saw-mill, and lived in the 
fortified house at Newichwannock, where he carried on trade 
with the Indians. He afterwards removed to Sander's Point, 
and was succeeded by Chadbourne. The proprietors provided 
for the defence of the settlement by sending to the plantation 
several cannon ; and a fort was planned on the northeast point 
of the Great Island at the mouth of the harbor.^ 




SC:nE \ / h 'E hl^L^ 

Captain Neal's mission was to explore and report on the 
province of Laconia, and accordingly, in 1632, in company with 

^ Belknap. 



36 



HISTORY OF NICW HAMPSHIRE. 



L163-' 



Jocelyn and Darby Field, he set out on foot to discover the 
interior, and establish a trade with the Indians. The party 
visited the White Mountains, which they christened the Clirys- 
tal Hills;' but probably they did not go beyond the foot-hills 
of the great White Mountain range. 

Some writers, depending on a statement in Rev, Samuel 
Danforth's Almanac for 1647, have ascribed this visit to June 




SUM 1 T OF THE RAV NE WHITE MOUNTAINb 

4, 1642. '^Among recent authors, however, Chandler E. Potter 
was of the opinion that the original account of Dr. Belknap was 
the true one, that Walter Neal, Jocelyn, and Darby Field 
went to the White Hills in 1632, that the Jocelyn here 
mentioned was not the author of " New England Rarities Dis- 
covered," whose first visit to New England was in 1638. This 



Prof. J. H. Hunting 



1633J DJSCOVKKV ANO SETTLEMENTS. 37 

among other things had given discredit to Dr. Belknap's account. 
By some it is thought that the man referred to was Mr. Henry 
Jocelyn. The first mention of the White Hills in print was by 
Mr. John Jocelyn, in the book just mentioned. It is stated that 
about a month after Field's first visit, he went again with five 
or si-\ in his company, and that the glowing account he gave 
" caused divers others to travel thither, but they found nothing 
worthy their pains." Among those who went are mentioned 
Thomas Gorges and Mr. Vines, two magistrates of the province 
of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. They went about the end of August, 
of the same year. Prof. E. Tuckerman, in 1840, endeavored to 
trace the path of these early explorers, and he had little doubt 
that F"ield entered the valley of Ellis River, and left it for 
the great south-east ridge of Mount Washington, the same 
which has since been called Boott's Spur. Not finding minerals 
or precious stones, but only high mountains with narrow valleys 
and deep gorges, there were no inducements for further explor- 
ations. 

Neal, on his return from this expedition, raised a force of 
forty men from both plantations, and in company with a party 
of twenty from Boston, pursued the pirate Dixy Bull to Fem- 
aquid, which place the latter had pillaged. The freebooter hav- 
ing gone further east, and the party pursuing being detained by 
contrary winds and bad weather, they returned in their four 
small vessels to the Piscataqua, stopping long enough on their 
way to hang an Indian at Richmond's Island.' During the 
following year, 1633, the proprietors were put to large expense 
in the way of wages to their employees on the Piscataqua, for 
the settlements were not self-supporting. Very little attention 
had been paid to agriculture, and not only provisions, but 
clothing, utensils, medicines, articles of trade, implements for 
building, husbandry, and fishing had to be furnished to the 
plantations, so that the proprietors, discouraged in the hope of 
the discovery of mines or a remunerative commerce, one after 
the other lost their interest or sold to the original and more 
hopeful proprietors, Gorges and Mason. 

^ Belknap. 



38 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['633 

Captain Walter Neal recorded that (in company with Captain 
Thomas Wiggm) he divided the patent into four townships in 
this year, 1633, which were afterwards known as Portsmouth, 
Dover, Exeter and Hampton ; and later in the year, returned 
to England. ^ John Albee, the graceful writer, and historian 
of Newcastle, thus writes of the first governor of New Hamp- 
shire : 

Captain Walter Neal was a true .soldier of fortune: always ready for an 
expedition or campaign ; always seeking that kind of emplovnient from tiie 
English court or any transient patron among the gentry; always begging 
for something and not averse to recounting his own services, merits or 
demerits. He describes himself, when seeking an appointment in these 
parts, as never liaving had any other profession but his sword, nor other 
fortunes than war ; and he adds, pathetically, that his debts are clamorous 
and his wants insupportable. When not otherwise engaged lie acted as 
captain and drill master of the London Militia. He was a free lance, among 
the last of the kniglits-errant and of the Round Table. Such was the first 
governor of New Hampshire and all the lands to the eastward of Massachu- 
setts Bay. He has nothing in common with the solemn and pragmatical 
Winthrops and Endicotts, and instead of settling down at Mason Hall to 
found a church and raise corn, he goes in search of the fabled land of 
Laconia, in expectation of finding precious stones and mines of gold. For 
three years he explored the woods, planned fortifications, drilled the settlers 
in arms, and chased pirates. He is a typical character, of the same family of 
Raleigh, Smith and Standish, men who discovered new countries, founded 
colonies, — uniting the real and romantic as never before, — and went trading 
and exploring round the world, writing love songs and marvelous narratives, 
and all as if it were the pastime of the moment and every day would bring a 
" noble chance." 

Although the names bestowed upon the towns were not given 
until several years afterward, it may be well to believe that some 
such a survey was made during the year, although not recorded 
vintil later, when the towns were named. Certain it is, how- 
ever, that in 1633 the Massachusetts authorities intimated that 
their jurisdiction extended over New Hampshire.- There was 
Mason's claim to Mariana interfering with their grants from the 
Charles river to the Merrimack, which had to be offset by a claim, 
founded on however doubtful an origin, upon New Hampshire. 

■ Belknap. - tt'intlirop's History of New England, and Provincial Papers, vol. i. p. 106. 



1635] DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS. 39 

These differences were in the way of an amicable adjustment at 
the time of Captain Mason's death, Henry Jocelyn, representative 
of Captain Mason, agreeing with Matthew Cradock, first gov- 
ernor of the Massachusetts Company, to give Massachusetts 
that land about Cape Anne secured to Mason by a patent 
granted before the Massachusetts patent, while Cradock agreed 
that " Captain Mason should have that land which was beyond 
Merrimack and granted to the Massachusetts'.' ^ This agree- 
ment was sent to Henry Jocelyn to get recorded at Boston, but 
before he could have leisure to go there, he heard of Captain 
Mason's death and failed in his duty. To this time very little 
improvement had been made on the lands ; the lakes were not 
explored ; the vines were planted, but came to nothing ; no mines 
were found but those of iron, and those were not wrought ; 
three or four houses only were built during the first seven 
years The peltry trade with the Indians was of some value, 
and the fishing served for the support of the inhabitants, but 
yielded no great profit to the adventurers, who received but 
inadequate returns in lumber and furs. Bread was either 
brought from England or Virginia.^ 

In 1634, Mason and Gorges gave new life to the settlement 
by sending over a fresh supply of servants and materials for 
carrying on the plantation, and appointed Francis Williams their 
governor, — a gentleman of such good sense and discretion, and 
so acceptable to the settlers, that when they combined in a body 
politic they continued him at their head. The next year, 1635, 
the Plymouth Council surrendered their charter to the King, 
first securing, or having confirmed, certain grants to individ- 
uals ; and Captain John Mason died, an event of much importance 
to the New Hampshire settlers. It had been his design to 
establish in his province of New Hampshire a manor, but 
death overtook him before his plans had been consummated. 
His personal property in New England seems to have been 
appropriated by his former servants and agents, with what 
justice it is unnecessary to inquire, while his interest in the 

' Hutch. Coll. Papers, p. 423. F. Belknap, 5S. " Farmer's Belknap, 13. 



40 HISTORY OF \E\V HAMPSHIKE. [^^3S 

land was left to youthful heirs, who were in no condition to 
assert their rights until many years afterward. 

In the meanwhile, the affairs of the settlement on Hilton's 
Patent, at Dover, were managed by Captain Thomas Wiggin 
with sagacity. In 1633 he brought from England Rev. Wil- 
liam Leveridge, a worthy and able Puritan minister, and settled 
him over the parish, building for him the first church in 
New Hampshire. Mr. Leveridge remained a short time only, 
removing to the Plymouth colony. During the year the 
small-pox raged among the Piscataqua Indians, greatly reduc- 
ing their numbers. The next year, 1634, Rev. William Bur- 
det, an artful impostor,^ who had been minister at Yar- 
mouth, England, and who was a good scholar and plausible in 
his behavior, settled in Dover, and " continued for sometime 
in good esteem with the people as a preacher, till, by artful 
insinuations, he raised such a jealousy in their minds against 
Wiggin, their governor, that they deprived him of office and 
elected Burdet in his place." 

Burdet, while loyal to the Church and King, was not in sympathy 
with the authorities of the Massachusetts colony and com- 
plained of them as hypocritical and disaffected with the govern- 
ment, as was shown by intercepted correspondence in 1638. 
He received the exiles from the Bay colony and was at length 
forced to remove to Agamenticus, whence he was again obliged 
to remove, finally going to England and joining the royal- 
ists.^ It was charged that he was not altogether circumspect in 
his habits while residing in New Hampshire. Among the Anti- 
nomians, who were banished from Boston and took refuge in these 
plantations, was Captain John Underbill. He had been a 
soldier in the Netherlands and was brought over to New 
England by Governor Winthrop, to train the people in military 
discipline. He served the country in the Pequod war, and was 
in such reputation in the town of Boston that they had chosen 
him one of their deputies. Coming into conflict with the 
Massachusetts authorities, from his sympathy with Wheel- 
wright, he came to Dover, where he procured the office of 

' Belknap. 



1638] DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS. 4I 

governor in place of Burdet. Being settled in his government he 
gathered a church at Dover. Rev. Hansard Knollys was chosen 
minister, who was not only not orthodox, but an Anabaptist 
and an Antinomian, which rendered him very obnoxious to the 
Puritans of Boston. They complained to the principal inhabit- 
ants on the river of a breach of friendship in advancing Under- 
hill, and summoned both Underhill and Knollys to appear before 
the court at Boston to answer to charges. The people of Dover 
voted Underhill out of office and chose Thomas Roberts in his 
place. Rev. Thomas Larkham, a native of Lyme, Dorsetshire, 
a minister from Northam, near Barnstable, differed from the 
church authorities of Boston, and settled in Dover, where he 
drew away the followers of Knollys and caused much trouble, 
which terminated in a riot. Underhill siding with Knollys, the 
Larkham party called in the intervention of Governor Francis 
Williams of the lower settlement, and at a trial Underhill was 
found guilty of disorderly conduct and banished from the plan- 
tations. Knollys was dismissed from the church and returned 
to England, where he died over sixty years later, "a good man 
in a good old age." ^ Captain Underhill returned to Boston. 
and later went to the Dutch settlement on the Hudson, where 
he received important commands in the military service of that 
colony. After Knollys' departure, Mr. Larkham, for whom the 
township was named Northam, charged with moral obliquity, 
hastily left the colony, returning to England, where he died 
some thirty years afterwards, "well-known there for a man of 
great piety and sincerity." 

One of the exiles from Massachusetts was Rev. John Wheel- 
wright, a preacher at Braintree, who, having been banished 
from Massachusetts on account of his Antinomian principles, 
obtained a grant from the Lidians, and settled, in 1638, with 
many of his followers, at the falls of Squamscott, giving the 
place the name of Exeter. Wheelwright was a friend and fel- 
low collegian of Oliver Cromwell ; had been vicar of Bilsby, in 
Lincolnshire, England, and brought his family to this country 
in 1636. Landing in Boston, the next year he was banished 

' Belknap. 



42 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 64O 

from the colony. There is a distinct tradition that there 
were residents at Exeter before Wheelwright arrived. He 
at once gathered a church there, built a meeting-house, a 
primitive structure of small dimensions, and became the 
minister. He drew up a form of civil government, called 
a "combination," which, in a modified form, was signed 
by him and thirty-four others in 1640. He remained at 
Exeter until the extension of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts 
over the settlements of New Hampshire, when he withdrew, with 
some of his warmest supporters, to Wells, in Maine. In the 
year J638, Rev. Stephen Batchelor, with whom was soon after 
associated Timothy Dalton and a party, chiefly from Norfolk, in 
England, to the number of fifty-six, made a settlement at Hamp- 
ton at a place known to the Indians as Winnicumet. This 
was strictly a Massachusetts colony; and although their settle- 
ment was objected to by the agents of the Mason estate and 
the settlers at Exeter, it was persisted in, and soon after led to 
the claim of Massachusetts to jurisdiction over the whole of the 
territory of New Hampshire. After the death of Captain 
Mason, his widow and executrix sent over Francis Norton as 
her attorney to manage the estate. The expense exceeding the 
income, she was obliged to relinquish the care of the plantation, 
and to let the servants shift for themselves. They shared the 
goods and cattle, — Norton driving one hundred head to Boston 
and there selling them. Some removed to other parts, but many 
remained, claiming their lands and betterments, and formed a 
permanent settlement about Strawberry Bank. 

At this time there were four distinct governments, including 
Kittery, on the Piscataqua river, united by mutual " combinations " 
or forms of government. The political revolution in England 
deprived the people of hope of receiving the royal attention, 
and being divided among themselves, the Massachusetts party, 
which had been strengthened by large additions among the new 
settlers of Dover, prevailed, and it was resolved by the "more 
considerate persons " to treat with Massachusetts about tak- 
ing them under their protection. The affair was more than a 
year in agitation, but was finally concluded, April 14, 1641, when 



1632] DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS. 43 

Strawberry Bank, and the inhabitants of Hilton's Patent, 
or Northam, and Exeter, submitted to the jurisdiction of the 
Massachusetts colony. This was greatly desired by the authori- 
ties at Boston, for they hoped thus to stretch the limits of 
their patent so as to take in a great extent of territory. It 
was of advantage to the people of the Piscataqua, for it gave 
a strong government, which to them was the same as peace 
and justice. 

Exeter at that time was not very orthodox, nor was Dover ; 
while the people of Strawberry Bank inclined to the Established 
Church of England. So the people demanded and received 
several concessions before consummating the union. Captain 
Thomas Wiggin seems to have been the most influential man, 
in the colony in bringing about the desired end, and was 
rewarded by high magisterial authority, under the new order of 
things. One of the most important concessions made was that 
a representative from the Piscataqua could serve, though he 
was not a church member. 

Thus was formed a union, under which, for nearly forty years. 
New Hampshire submitted to the laws and jurisdiction of Mas- 
sachusetts. 

Of the second governor of the Piscataqua settlements, 
Francis Williams, who succeeded Walter Neal and continued 
as governor until the union with Massachusetts, little is known 
to the writer, save that he became a magistrate, and an associate 
justice in Norfolk county, and continued in office until 1645. 

The obscurity which surrounds the first settlement of New 
Hampshire has been partially cleared up by the researches of 
the late John Scribner Jenness. A careful perusal of the fol- 
lowing extracts from his " Notes on the First Planting of New 
Hampshire and on its Piscataqua Patents," may be of general 
interest, especially as the work was privately printed, and had a 
very limited circulation : 

" Advancing from this starting-point (the settlement of 
David Thomson and his company, in 1623, at Pannaway, or 
Little Harbor), onl\' a few steps further into the early history of 
New Hamiisliire. the student is again shut in bv a dense fog, 



44 HISTOKV OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1632 

through which, for a long time, he is compelled to grope his 
uncertain way. Before the year 1632 is passed, he finds him- 
self in the midst of a number of patents on the Piscataqua, none 
of which can he clearly make out and define. He perceives, 
long and bitter contests between those rival patents, the true 
ground of which he cannot understand. He discovers that at 
last all these contending patentees and planters are in some 
way swept into the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay, but the 
dexterous legerdemain by which the annexation was effected 
entirely escapes his detection. In vain does he seek for light in 
the pages of the Pilgrim or the Puritan historians. That whole 
confraternity, indeed, avowedly look upon the Piscataqua plan- 
tations with utter contempt, and waste little or no time upon 
the annals of those 'sons of Belial' who haunted about the 
lower part of the river." It became the policy of the Bay 
Colony, in prosecuting their designs over the Piscataqua, to say 
or write as little as possible on the subject, so that in case they 
should ever be called to account for their conduct in the matter, 
they could not, in any event, be condemned out of their own 
mouths. 

The instrument which has been the chief cause of the confu- 
sion and obscurity was the patent granted in 1629-30 to 
Edward Hilton and his associates — a petty conveyance of a 
small tract of land around Dover Neck — covering "all that 
part of the river Piscataquack, called or known by the name of 
Wecanacohunt or Hilton's Point, with the south side of the 
said river, up to the fall of the river, and three miles into the 
main land by all the breadth aforesaid." Beginning at Hilton's 
Point or Dover Neck, the boundary line ran up along the south- 
erly side of the Piscataqua river to the lower, or Quampegan 
Falls, a distance of seven or eight miles, and reached back into 
the interior country three miles along the entire river frontage. 
Formal possession was given to Hilton, July J, 163 1. 

Before Hilton's title was perfected, Strawberry Bank had 
begun to be settled. No less than sixty men were employed 
in the Laconia Company's business on the Piscataqua, and 
a plantation had been established at Newichwannock, not 



163 1] DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS. 45 

far from Ouampegan Falls, and on the opposite side of the 
river from Hilton's grant. 

As the Laconia patent conveyed to the adventurers no por- 
tion of Piscataqua river, and as during two years' occupation 
they had acquired an accurate knowledge of the region and its 
many advantages for traffic and commerce, it was their first 
care to procure a grant of the desired region not previously con- 
veyed to Edward Hilton. Their grant was dated November 3, 
163 1, and embraced all lands east of Great Bay, and five miles 
south of Little Harbor, and a width of three miles on the north 
and east of the Piscataqua from the sea to Quampegan Falls- 
It included the present town of Portsmouth, Newington, Green- 
land, Newcastle and Rye. It did not conflict with the Hilton 
patent, as it was made by the same grantor, the grand council 
for New England. 

The charter of Massachusetts Bay passed the seals March 4, 
1628-29, thus ante-dating Mason's patent of New Hampshire 
as well as both the Piscataqua river grants. If the Massachusetts 
construction of their charter should prevail, then all the patents 
on the river would be swept away ; the whole of that region 
would fall by prior title into their hands and jurisdiction, and 
neither Mason nor Hilton could have offered any effectual 
opposition. 

This ingenious interpretation of the charter having been hit 
upon, there appeared as early as 163 1, upon the banks of the 
Piscataqua, one Captain Thomas Wiggin, a stern Puritan, and a 
confidential friend of Governor John Winthrop, who spent his 
whole after-life in maintaining the title of Massachusetts Bay 
Colony, under their great charter of 1628, to the lands about the 
Piscataqua. 

As the construction the Bay Colony put upon their charter 
would, if enforced, have swept away the entire property of all 
the Piscataqua planters, it must have encountered a hot and 
determined opposition from the whole river. The Massachu- 
setts perceived that the Piscataqua planters were bitterly hostile 
to them in political and religious principles, and would on that 
account be likely to receive official aid from the old country in 



46 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSllIKE. [164O 

case of an open conflict. In these difficulties, the Bay magis- 
trates deemed it prudent to break up and confuse, if possible, 
the solid front of opposition before making an attack ; and to 
that end they resolved to get into their own hands the entire 
Hilton patent. 

Accordingly, after concerting the plan with Governor Win- 
throp and his assistants. Captain Wiggin, shortly after his quar- 
rel with Captain Walter Neal over possession of Bloody Point, 
went out to England in 1632, and forming a company of 
"honest men," as Winthrop calls them, succeeded, with their 
aid, in purchasing from Hilton and his Bristol associates the 
entire Hilton patent, at the price of ;^2, 150. The purchasers 
were all Puritans and frientls of the Massachusetts colony who 
had been "writ unto." 

Captain Wiggin, appointed manager for the new company, 
returned to New England in 1633, with reinforcements and 
supplies, and took immediate steps to submit the territory to 
the jurisdiction of Massachusetts ; but Wiggin found it impos- 
sible to complete the bargain. Intense hostility against the 
design sprang up at once among the original Hilton Point 
planters, many of whom were Royalists and Churchmen, who 
could not maintain their titles to land before a legal tribunal; 
and they set up an independent government among themselves 
under the name of a combination. In 1637, they chose George 
Burdet, a staunch Churchman, as their governor, in place of 
Wiggin. 

Captain John Underbill, who was chosen governor in 1638, 
on account of his supposed opposition to the Massachusetts 
claim, was found to be plotting with his ally, Hanserd KnoUys, 
to establish that claim. This led to the riot in which Mr. 
Larkham led the people against the governor, and was sustained 
by Governor Francis Williams of Strawberry Bank. Underbill 
and Knollys were both ordered out of the Piscataqua plantations 
by a court presided over by Mr. Williams. 

But now at last, in 1640, amidst the turmoils and bitter quar- 
rels among the inhabitants, Massachusetts saw her long awaited 
opportunity to spread her jurisdiction over the Piscataqua. 



1640] DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS. 47 

Hugh Peters and two others were sent "to understand the minds 
of the people, to reconcile some differences between them, and 
to prepare them." On his return in 1641, he reported to 
Governor Winthrop that the Piscataqua people were "ripe for 
our government. They grone for Government and Gospel all 
over that side of the Country. Alas! poore bleeding soules." 

"The precise methods used in preparing the people for the 
Puritan anne.xation have never been fully disclosed. Edward 
Hilton's assent was purchased by a covenant. Governor Francis 
Williams, of the lower plantation, was secured for the measure, 
but the manner is not revealed. The chief inducement, however, 
held out to thepopulation at large seems to ha^e been the prom- 
ise of the Bay Colony, that they should "enjoy all such lawful 
liberties of fishing, planting and felling timber as formerly." 

The inhabitants at Strawberry Bank and vicinity at the time of the Union, 
1640, were : 

Gov. Francis Williams. Jno. Wall. William Berry. 

Asst. Ambrose Gibbons.* Robert Puddington. Jno. Pickering. 

William Jones. Mathew Cole. Jno. Billing. 

Dr. Renald Fernald. Henry Sherburne. Jno. Wolten. 

John Crowther. John Lander. Nicholas Row. 

Anthony Bracket. Henry Taler. William Palmer. 

Michael Chatterton. John Jones. 

Among the stewards and servants sent to New Hampshire by Captain 
John Mason were : 

Thomas Comack. Wm., Wm. Jr., and Hum- James Newt.* 

William Raymond. phrey Chadbourne. Francis Mathews.* 

George Vaughan. Jeremiah and Thos. Wal- Francis Rand. 

Thomas Wannerton. ford. James Johnson. 

Henry Jocelyn. Thomas Chatherton. Anthony Ellins. 

Francis Norton. John Williams. Henry Baldwin. 

Sampson Lane. John Goddard.* Thomas Spencer. 

Ralph Goe. Thomas Fernald. Thomas Furrall. 

Henry Goe. Thomas Withers. Thomas Herd. 

William Cooper. Thomas Canney.* Roger Knight. 

Henry LongstatT.* John Symonds. William Seavev. 

Hugh James. John Peverly. Joseph Beal. 

William Bracket. Thomas Moore. John Ault.* 

William Brakin. Alexander Jones. James Wall. 
Eight Danes and twentv-two women. 



48 



mSTORV OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[1640 



Among the Dover settlers at the time were also : 

Thomas Beard. Thomas Johnson. 

George Burdet. Hanserd Know les. 

Edward Colcott. Thomas Larkham. 

John Darn. Thomas Lajton. 

William Furber. William Leveridge. 

John Hall. James Nute. 

John Heard. Hatevil Nutter. 

Edward and Wm. Hilton. James Ordway. 

At Exeter the signers of the " combination " wer 
Rev. John Wheelwright. Chr. Helme. 



Darbv Ffield. 
Robert Reid. 
Edward Rishvorth. 
Francis Matthews. 
Ralph Hall. 
Robert Soward. 
Richard Bullgar. 
Christopher Lawson. 
George Barlow. 
Richard Morris. 



Augustus Storre. 
Thomas Wight. 
William Wentworti^ 
Henry Elkins. 
George Walton. 
Samuel Walker. 
Thomas Pettit. 
Henry Roby. 
William Wenbourn. 
Thomas Crawley. 
Robert Smith. 

Fourteen of whom made their mar 

At Hampton were early the following settlers : 
Rev. Stephen Batchelor. William Fuller. 
Mr. Christopher Hussey. 
Thomas Cromwell. 
Samuel Skullard. 
John Osgood. 
Samuel Greenfield. 
John and Thomas Moul- 

ton. 



Richard Pinkham. 
Wm. Pom fret. 
Thomas Roberts. 
Henry Tebbits. 
John Tuttle. 
Richard Waldron. 
Thomas Wiggans. 



Nicholas Needham. 
Thomas Willson. 
George Rawbone. 
William Coole. 
James Wall. 
Thomas Leavitt. 
Edmond Littlefield. 
John Crame. 
Godfrey Dearborn. 
Philemon Pormot. 
Thos. and Wm. War- 
dell, 
ks. 



William Estow. 
WilliaiTi Palmer. 
Robert Caswell. 
William Marston. 
John Philbrick. 
Henry Ambrose. 
Moses Cox. 
Thomas Ward. 
Daniel Hendrick. 



William Sargeant. 
Ricliard Swayne. 
William Sanders. 
Robert Tucke. 
John Cross. 
John Brown. 
Edmund Johnson. 
Thomas Jones. 
Robert Saunderson. 
Arthur Clark. 
Joseph Austin. 
Wm. English. 
Wm. Wakefield. 
Thomas King. 
Giles Fuller. 
John Wedgewood. 



James Davis. 
Abraham Perkins. 
Philemon Dalton. 
John Huggins. 
JeofTrey Mingay. 
Thomas Marston. 
Lieut. Wm. Hay ward. 
Isaac Perkins. 
Francis Peabody. 
Robert Page. 
Joseph Smith. 
Walter Roper. 
Wm. Fifield. 
Anthony Taylor. 
Wm. Saunders. 
Thomas Chase. 



CHAPTER II. 
UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS, 1641-1679. 

Laws — Courts — Judges — Masonian Claim —Deputies — Magistrates 

— Dover — Norfolk County — Town Lines — Roads — -Portsmouth 

— Survey of Northern Boundary — Endicott Rock — Market — 
Dunstable — Witchcraft — Qitakers — King's Commissioners — Cor- 
bet — Masts — Sabbath Laws — Harvard College — Oyster River 
^ Indian War — Effect of Union — Church History : Hampton — 
Exeter — Dover — Portsmouth — ^Massachusetts Governors — Mag- 
istrates and Deputies. 

A T the time of the union, the breach between the Puritans 
and the EstabHshed Church of England was not so wide as 
it was soon destined to become. Most of their early ministers 
were regularly ordained and many had been educated at Oxford 
or at Cambridge. The differences were not so much in the 
creed as in church government and the forms of worship. Even 
the ritual had not been entirely discarded. There were at that 
time, and for many years after, even until the creation of the 
royal province, two parties within the New Hampshire towns, 
the Puritan or republican party, and the opposition, made up 
of ardent Churchmen, Royalists, Anabaptists, ^ Antinomians,^ 
Quakers, freethinkers, and free lances. 

During the union of these plantations with Massachusetts 
they were governed by the general laws of that colony and the 
terms of the union were strictly observed. Exeter and Hamp- 
ton were at first annexed to the jurisdiction of the courts at 
Ipswich, till the establishment of a new county, which was called 

^ The Anabaptists denied the validity of infant baptism and believed in immersion. 
- The Antinomians believed in " the indwelling of the person of the Holy Ghost in the heart of 
the true believers '* and encouraged the women in taking part in religious meetings. 



50 HISTORY OF NKW HAMPSHIRE. [164I 

Norfolk, and comprehended Salisbury, Haverhill, Hampton, 
Exeter, Strawberry Bank and Dover. These towns were then 
of such e-xtent as to contain all the lands between the rivers 
Merrimack and Piscataqua. The shire town was Salisbury, but 
the Piscataqua settlements had always a distinct jurisdiction, 
though they were considered as part of this new county. A 
court was held in one or the other, sometimes once and some- 
times twice in the year, consisting of one or more of the magis- 
trates or assistants, and one or more of the commissioners, chosen 
by the General Court out of the principal gentlemen of each town. 
This was called the Court of Associates, and their power extended 
to causes of twenty pounds' value. From them there was an appeal 
to the Board of Assistants, in Boston, which, being found incon- 
venient, it was, in 1670, ordered to be made to the county court 
of Norfolk. Cases under twenty shillings in value were settled in 
each town by an inferior court, consisting of three persons. 
After some time, the towns had liberty to choose their associate 
justices, which was done by the vote of both towns, opened at a 
joint meeting of their selectmen, though sometimes they re- 
quested the Court to appoint them as before. "That mutual 
confidence between rulers and people which springs from the 
genius of a republican government is observable in all their 
transactions." ^ 

2 The extension of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over New 
Hampshire could not fail of being noticed by the heirs of 
Mason ; but the distractions caused by the civil wars in England 
were invincible bars to any legal inquiry. The first heir named in 
Mason's will dying in infancy, the estate descended after the 
death of the executrix to Robert Tufton, who was not of age 
till 1650. Joseph Mason came over as agent to look after the 
Masonian interests. He found the lands at Newichawannock 
occupied by Richard Leader, against whom he brought suit in the 
county court of Norfolk ; but a dispute arising, whether the lands 
in question were within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, there 
was an appeal to the. General Court at Boston, which resulted in 
the survey by Jonathan Ince and John Sherman. Two experi- 

' Fanner's Helknap, pp. 5J, 54. ' Belknap. 



1641] UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 5 1 

enced ship masters determined that the parallel of latitude ex- 
tended from the outlet of Lake Winiiipiseogee to a point in Casco 
Bay, on the coast of Maine, and this line was determined by the 
General Court to be their northern boundary, thus including 
the most of the territory granted to Mason. They also decided 
that a quantity of land proportionable to Mason's disbursements, 
with the privilege of the river, should be laid out to his heirs. 
The agent made no attempt to recover any other part of the 
estate, but returned to England, and the estate was given up 
for lost, unless the government of England should interfere. 
During the Commonwealth, and the protectorate of Cromwell, 
there could be no hope of relief, as the family had always been 
attached to the royal cause, and the colony stood high in the favor 
of the Parliament and of Cromwell. 

At the restoration of Charles II, Robert Tufton, who took 
the name of Mason, applied to the King for redress, and the 
attorney-general decided that the claim of Mason to the province 
of New Hampshire was good and legal. The commissioners 
who came over in 1664 were to inquire into this as well as other 
matters. The reception of the commissioners resulted in a re- 
port to the King unfavorable to the Massachusetts claims. 
While in New England they took many affidavits, but made no 
determination of the controversy. After the return of the 
commissioners, the government took no active measures for the 
relief of Mason, who became discouraged and joined with the 
heirs of Gorges in proposing an alienation of their respective 
rights in the provinces of New Hampshire and Maine to the 
crown, but the Dutch war's and other foreign transactions pre- 
vented any determination concerning them till the country was 
involved in all the horrors of a general war with the natives. 

From the annals of New Hampshire, gathered with great 
care by the late Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Bouton, from town records, 
court records, Massachusetts records, and New York documents, 
and published in the first volume of the " Provincial Papers," 
are extracted most of the following items of more or less 
interest. 

The union of the four New Hampshire towns with Massa- 



52 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1C4I 

chusetts was perfected by an act passed by the General Court 
held at Boston on the "9th day of the 8th month, 1641." The 
preamble having asserted that, according to the Massachusetts 
patent, the Piscataqua river was within their jurisdiction and that 
a conference had been had with the people living there, who con- 
sented to the arrangement, it was ordered that the people " in- 
habiting there are and shall be accepted and reputed under the 
government of the Massachusetts " ; that " they shall have the 
same order and way of administration of justice and way of 
keeping courts as is established at Ipswich and Salem " ; " that 
they shall be exempted from all publique charges other than 
those that shall arise for or from among themselves " ; " shall 
enjoy all such lawful liberties of fishing, planting, felling timber 
as formerly " ; that " Mr. Simon Bradstreet, Mr. Israel Stough- 
ton, Mr. Samuel Symonds, Mr. William Tynge, Mr. Francis 
Williams and Mr. Edward Hilton, or any four of them, whereof 
Mr. Bradstreet or Mr. Stoughton to be one, shall have the 
same power that the Quarter Courts at Salem and Ipswich have " ; 
that "the inhabitants theie are allowed to send two deputies 
from the whole river [settlements] to the Court at Boston " ; 
that the commissioners have power to appoint two or three to 
join with Mr. Williams and Mr. Hilton to govern the people for 
the ensuing year as was done in Massachusetts ; and that the 
authority exercised by the officers of the " combination " should 
continue until the arrival of the commissioners. 

On the loth of December, 1641, " Mr. Wiggin, Mr. Warnerton 
and Mr. Gibbons " were joined in commission. In- May, 1642, 
Captain Wiggin, Mr. Edward Hilton, Mr. Warnerton and Mr. 
William Waldron were commissioned magistrates on the Piscata- 
qua, with whom were associated William Hilton and Edward 
Colcord ; and William Hayward, John Crosse and James Davis, 
at Hampton ; with power to settle cases under ^^20. 

During the year it was granted that all the inhabitants of Pis- 
cataqua who formerly were free there should have the liberty 
of freemen in their several towns to manage all their town affairs, 
and that each town should send a deputy to the General Court, 
though he was not a church member. During the year Northam 



1647] UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 53 

was regularly incorporated and Samuel Dudley, William Paine, 
Mr. Winslow and Mathevv Boyes were appointed to settle the 
town limits or bounds. The town was called Dover the follow- 
ing year. 

In 1643 Norfolk county was established, containing Salisbury, 
Hampton, Haverhill, E.xeter, Dover, Strawberry Bank. E.xeter 
petitioned to have its bounds determined ; and William Wen- 
bourn, Robert Smith and Thomas Wardell were appointed 
magistrates. 

In 1644 the inhabitants of E.xeter were enjoined from gather- 
ing a church and settling the Rev. Mr. Batchelor before their 
reconciliation and fitness was manifest. The decree of banish- 
ment against Rev. Mr. Wheelwright was recalled. Passaconaway 
and his sons submitted to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. 
The bounds between Dover and Strawberry Bank were deter- 
mined. Samuel Greenfield, innkeeper of Exeter, had his license 
revoked, and Richard Bulgar of Hampton was commissioned 
lieutenant of the militia. Francis Williams, Mr. Fernald and 
William Sherburne were appointed magistrates at Strawberry 
Bank. Trouble between Mr. Batchelor and Hampton was re- 
ferred to a commission. 

In 1645 Philemon Dalton was licensed to marry at Hampton. 
Anthony Stanyan, Samuel Greenfield, Robert Smith and John 
Legatt were appointed magistrates of Exeter; Captain Wiggin, 
Mr. Williams and Mr. Smith, associate magistrates at Dover. 
The General Court discountenanced the holding of slaves at 
Piscataqua and ordered that a negro brought from Guinea 
should be returned. 

In 1646 the bounds between Exeter and Hampton were deter- 
mined by Samuel Dudley, Edward Rawson and Edward Carle- 
ton. William Waklron was appointed recorder of deeds at Dov- 
er, and Mr. Waldron and Lieutenant Hayward laid out a road 
from Dover to Salisbury. The court of the Piscataqua district 
was holden twice at Dover and Captain Wiggin, Mr. Smith and 
Ambrose Gibbons were appointed associate magistrates. A road 
was laid out across the Hampton marshes. 

In 1647 a road was laid out from Haverhill to Exeter ; and 



54 HISTORY OF NKW IIAMPSHIPE. ['652 

"towne marks " agreed upon by the General Court "for horses, 
[were] ordered to be set upon one of the nere quarters. S(tra\v- 
berry-banke) N(ortham) H(ampton) E(xeter)." 

In 1648 it was ordered that court should be hoklen at Salisbury, 
the neglected shiretown of Norfolk county, and also at Hamp- 
ton. Musters for military training were held eight times a year. 
Samuel Dudley, Captain Wiggin and Robert Clements were com- 
missioned justices for the county and authorized to administer 
the oath to the three commissioners for small causes in the sev- 
eral towns. Edward Starbuck was tried, having been charged 
with "profession of Anabaptism." The courts had to deal jus- 
tice for the crime of mui'der, as in the case of Mrs. Willip, as 
well as for the crime of wearing the hair long, and professing 
"Anabaptism." 

In 165 1 the inhabitants of Strawberry ]5ank petitioned for a 
surve}' of their bounds and for the establishment of a court and 
for the protection against the heirs of John Mason. Brian Pen- 
dleton and Henry Sherburne were appointed associate magis- 
trates with Captain Wiggin, and the line between Strawberry 
Bank and Hampton and between Hampton and Exeter was or- 
dered to be determined. Exeter was authorized to choose a con- 
stable "acceptable to the court." Four hundred acres of land 
between Hampton and the Piscataqua were granted to Captain 
William Hathorne and six hundred acres to Emanuel Down- 
ing. Governor John Endicott, learning that the inhabitants of 
Strawberry Bank were designing to throw off their allegiance to 
Massachusetts and set up an independent government, com- 
manded Captain Wiggin to arrest the ringleaders and send them 
to Boston for trial. Dover was fined £io for not sending a 
deputy to the General Court. 

In 1652 court was holden by Mr. Bcllingham at Hampton, Sal- 
isbury, Dover and Strawberry Bank, and Mr. George Smith, 
Mr. Richard Waldron and Mi". Valentine Hill were appointed 
associate justices. Captain Simon Willard and Captain 
Edward Johnson were appointed commissioners to determine 
the most northeil)- part of the Merrimack river. They accord- 
ingly employed John Sherman of Watertown and Jonathan 



1652] L'NION WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 55 

Incc, ii student at Harvard College, to determine the latitude of 
Aquadahian, the name of the Merrimack where it issues out of 
Lake Winnipiseogee ; and on August r they found the latitude 
was forty three degrees, forty minutes, and twelve seconds, "be- 
sides those minutes which are to be allowed for the three miles 
more north which runs into the Lake." 

' One of tlie most interesting objects connected witli the early history of 
New Hampshire, vet one that is little known, is the " Endicott Rock," which 
is situated on the head of a small island in the channel, at the Weirs. Prob- 
ably the exploring party who left their names chiseled upon it, were the 
first Avhite men that ever gazed upon the waters of the beautiful lake. Al- 
though two and a half centuries have elapsed since that time, yet this inscrip- 
tion still remains as a monument to their bravery and endurance. 

The inscription can still be entirely read by much study, but is fast wearing 
away, and must soon entirely disappear under the constant action of the ele- 
ments. Recognizing this fact, the Lake Company, on whose domain it stands, 
have had several plaster casts taken, one of which is to be seen in their 
office at Lake Village ; while others have been presented to the Historical 
Societies of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 

When, and by whom, the discovery of this interesting relic was made, is 
not definitely known, but is supposed to have been made by Stephen Lyford 
and Nathan Batchelder of Meredith Bridge, the constructors of the '• Old Bel- 
knap," as they built a dSm across the channel on the Meredith side, in 1832, 
for the purpose of deepening the other one, in order tliat tliat famous steamer 
could pass down to Lake Village, which was then a thriving village of about 
a dozen houses. Others claim that Messrs. Daniel Tucker and John T. Coffin, 
president and cashier of the Meredith Bridge Savings Bank, were the original 
discoverers. The State has recently provided for the preservation of this 
interesting monument. 

The inscription reads as follows : — 

EI SW. 

W. P. 10 HN 

ENDICVT 

GOV 

Dover was declared entitled to send two deputies to the 
General Court and Strawberry- Bank one. It was determined 
that the northern bounds of Dover should extend from the first 
fall of the Newichawannock river ujiou a north by west line four 
miles ; and the Lampereel river was confirmed as the bound be- 
tween E.xeter and Dovei'. 



56 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1655 

In 1653 the inhabitants at Strawberry Bank, claiming to have 
between seventy and eiglity men able to bear arms, and between 
fifty and sixty families,' desired the privileges of a township, 
and were incorporated by the name of Portsmouth. The free- 
men of Dover chose Captain Waldron and Valentine Hill as 
associates ; and their choice was confirmed by the General Court. 

In 1654 William Pomfret was "appointed and authorized to 
marry such at Dover as shall be duly published and otherwise 
fitt to joyne in marriage according to law: "and Roger Shaw 
of Hampton was " impowered and ordered to sell wine of any sort 
and strong liquors to the Indians as * * shall seeme meete and 
necessary for their relief, in just and urgent occasions, and not 
otherwise." The rates assessed for supporting the ministry 
were payable in money, beaver, beef, pork, wheat, pease, malt, 
cheese, butter, or in any one of these commodities ; and the dep- 
uties at the General Court at Boston dined together during the 
session at Lieutenant Phillips' tavern, at the expense of the col- 
ony, and "the keeper of said tavern shall be paid for the same 
by the treasurer by discounting the same in the custom of wine : " 
and they were also iequired to provide bo5.rding-places for the 
deputies who should succeed them. Lieutenant Phillips charged 
three shillings a day for breakfast, dinner and supper, fire and 
bed, "with wine and beer between meals," or eighteen pence for 
dinner alone, "with wine and beer betwi.xt meals." The Great 
and General Court defined the law thus : " and by wine is in- 
tended a cup for each man at dinner and supper, and no more." ^ 

In 1655, "at the request of the towne of Hampton, by theire 
deputy, itt is ordered that there shall be a market kept there on 
one day in every week, viz., on the fifth day, which is theire lec- 
ture day." 

In August, 1655, Captain Simon Willard and Edward John- 
son, surveyors, who were employed by the provincial court of 
Massachusetts, came from Woburn with an exploring company, 
which usually consisted of a guard of eight or ten men, to pro- 
tect the surveyors from Indian invasion as they penetrated the 

' The deputies were paid by the towns they represented. The Dover deputy was allowed thirty 
shillings for travelling expenses, two shillings and sixpence per day besides his** diet," while in at- 
tendance. 



1656] UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 57 

unbroken forests. They arc supposed to be the first white men 
ever in West Dunstable, — traversing the Merrimack river and 
its tributaries, going up Pennichuck brook to Pennichuck pond, 
also exploring what has been known for a period of over two 
hundred years as the Witch Brook Valley, and embraced that 
portion of West Dunstable known later as Monson and Hollis. 

Witch Brook was discovered by those who belonged to the ex- 
ploring company of Johnson and Willard. Some of their number 
went up this brook quite a distance, and, leaving its bank to get 
a view of the surrounding forests, were unfortunate enough to 
lose their way. Night came on before they regained the brook ; 
and a thick fog set in, which rendered it extremely difficult for 
the men to follow it. Some one of their number remarked that 
the place was bewitched, and that the brook was bewitched ; 
hence, it received its present name long before any settlement 
was made in the vicinity. There were many considerations 
which helped to promote the early settlements there. One was, 
that a great portion of meadow land was made available by 
reason of the beavers building their dams for the purpose of 
flowing ponds, which hunters and trappers would break; and 
the whole tract was drained, leaving a mowing-field already 
cleared for the new settler. Another consideration was, that 
the Indians had planted fields of corn on the uplands as late as 
1665, which were found ready for cultivation. And still another 
reason that actuated the people in settling in the section was, 
that its facility for fur catching was second to no other in the 
State.* 

In 1656 the witchcraft craze reached New Hampshire. 
March 30, Susannah Trimmings of Little Harbor, Piscataqua, 
going home at night with Goodwife Barton, separated from her 
at the freshet next her house. On her return, between Good- 
man Evans' and Robert Davis' she heard a rustling in the 
woods, which she at first thought was occasioned by swine, and 
presently after there did appear to her a woman, whom she 
apprehended to be Goodwife Walford, who asked her where her 
consort was and wanted to borrow a pound of cotton. Upon 

• C. S. Spaulding. 



58 



IllSTt)KV Ol- NKW HAMI'SIIIKE. 



[1656 



being refused, the old woman threatened and then left her, 
vanishing toward the water side in the shape of a cat, while Sus- 
annah was struck as with a clap of fire on the back. She returned 
to her home and was ill a number of days. This statement was 
sworn to before Brian Pendleton, Henry .Sherburne and Renakl 




THE MILES STWDISH HOI ^F Dt \Pt R\ 



Fernald, and the fact of her sickness was corroborated by the tes- 
timony of others. Agnes Puddinoton testified that a little after 
sunset .she saw a yellowish cnt ; that her husband, John Pudding- 
ton, saw a cat in the garden and took down his gun to shoot her. 



1657] UM(l\ WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 59 

"The cat got up on a tree, and the gun would not take fire," 
and afterwards the lock would not work. She afterwards saw 
three cats. On this and similar testimony, Goodwife Walford 
was bound over to the ne.\t court. At the court of associates, 
holden in June, Jane Walford was bound over until the next 
court, "upon suspicion of being a witch." The complaint was 
probably dropped at the next term, for some years afterwards 
Goodwife Walford brought an action for slander against one 
Robert Couch, for calling her a witch, and recovered five 
pounds and costs. 

By an act of the General Court this year, a fine of one hundred 
pounds was imposed on any ship master who should import a 
Quaker, and that "what Quakers soever shall arrive in this 
country from forraigne parts, or come into this jurisdiction from 
any parts adjacent, shall be committed to the house of correction, 
and at their entrance to be severely whipt." A penalty of five 
pounds was imposed for importing any Quaker books, the same 
for keeping on hand such books ; while any person within the 
colony defending the opinions of the Quakers, for a first offence 
should be fined forty shillings, four pounds for the second offence, 
while a third offence would subject the guilty party to imprison- 
ment and banishment from the realm. The act closed with the 
gentle assurance that "what person or persons soever shall 
revile the office or person of magistrates or ministers * * shall 
be severely whipt or pay the some of five pounds." 

In 1657 the land and properties of " the honored Capt. 
Wiggin," not hitherto within the limits of any town, were placed 
within the limits of Hampton. The people of Portsmouth built 
a meeting-house, and the ne.xt year settled Rev. Joshua Moody 
as minister. This year the law against Quakers was made more 
severe. Whoever harbored them was fined forty shillings for 
every hour's entertainment or concealment of Quakers. Any 
Quaker who should return to the jurisdiction of the colony after 
having been banished, should, if a male, for the first offence, 
have one of his ears cut off; for the second offence, have the 
other ear cut off ; if a woman, she should be "whipt severely." 
For a third offence, every Quaker, he or she, " shall have their 



60 HISTORY OF NEW IIAMl'SHIKE. [1662 

tongues bored through with a hot iron, and kept at the house of 
correction, close to worke, till they be sent away at their own 
charge." A native Quaker fared the same as a foreign Quaker. 
Our ancestors sought, in the wilderness, to obtain religious 
freedom for themselves, without toleration for other creeds than 
their own. A party of eight persons were drowned off Hamp- 
ton during the year. The line between Hampton and Salisbury 
was determined, beginning at the ocean in the middle of 
Hampton river. 

In 1658 the inhabitants of Portsmouth were ordered to attend 
all military service under command of Capt. Brian Pendleton, and 
to observe the laws concerning the selling of strong liquors and 
to keep good order in ordinaries. Dover this year voted to 
raise twenty pounds for the maintenance of a schoolmaster, 
who could " reid, write, cast accompt * * as the parents shall 
require." 

In 1659 occun-ed the e.\ecution, at Boston, of several Quakers, 
under the authority of the law passed in 1656. 

The forefathers must have been sorely afflicted with Quakers^ 
for in 1661 the General Court decreed that any discovered 
within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts should " be stripped 
naked from the middle upwards, and tied to a cart's tayle and 
whipped thro' the towne, and from thence immediately conveyed 
to the constable of the next town towards the borders of our 
jurisdiction ; * * so from constable to constable, till they be 
conveyed thro' any the outwardmost townes of our jurisdic- 
tion;" and for a third offence should be branded on their left 
shoulder with the letter R. Truly, in those days, these shores 
may be said to have been inhospitable. The unkindest part of 
this act was in the provision that " the constables of the several 
townes * * were empowered * * to impresse cart, o.xen, and 
other assistance." The Isles of Shoals were incorporated as a 
town by the name of Appledore, during the year. 

In 1662 Elunice Cole, a reputed witch of Hampton, after an 
imprisonment, was banished from the colony. A New England 
poet, John G. VVhittier, has immortalized the name of Eunice 
Cole, in his " Tent on the Beach," as the witch of Hampton 



1665] UNIUX WITH MASSACHUSKTTS. 61 

who caused the drowning of the party off the mouth of Hamp- 
ton river, in the year 1657. Still more cruel was the execution 
of the sentence imposed by Richard Waldron upon Anna Col- 
raan, Mary Thompkins, and Alice Ambrose, Quakers, who 
received ten strokes each on their naked backs, while made fast 
to a cart's tail, in each of the towns of Dover and Hampton on 
their way through Massachusetts. The order to the constables 
was dated at Dover, in midwinter, December 22, 1662. The 
order was executed in Dover, Hampton, and Salisbury, but in 
the last na-med town the women were rescued by Walter Bare- 
foote, who sent them out of the Province. They were probably 
shipped to Rhode Island, the Barbadoes, or Nova Scotia. 

In July, 1664, the King's commissioners. Sir Robert Carre, 
George Cartwright and Samuel Maverick, arrived at the Piscat- 
aqua, and during their visit found the King's authority of very 
light weight within the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts colony. 
They informed the Massachusetts authorities that the King did 
not grant away his sovereignty when he granted powers to the 
corporation to make wholesome laws and to administer justice 
by them. Nor had he parted with his right of judging 
whether those laws were wholesome, or whether justice were 
administered accordingly or no. He had not granted supreme 
authority over such of his subjects as were within the jurisdic- 
tion of Massachusetts. The King reserved that authority and 
prerogative for himself. The commissioners threatened the 
Massachusetts Colony with the loss of their charter. They 
were not kindly received by the authorities, and having made a 
tour of the settlements, in 1665, they made a report, in which 
they charged that Massachusetts had usurped authority over 
the Province of New Hampshire as well as over Maine, writing 
of the former: " This Province reaches from three miles north 
of the Merrimack river to Piscataquay, and sixty miles into the 
country. We find many small patents in it, and the whole 
Province to be now under the usurpation of the Massachusetts, 
who once set up a bound house three larg miles north of the 
Merrimacke and owned it for about twelve years, yet since 
claims all this and sixty miles more to the north to be within 



62 HISTORY OI-- NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['665 

their patent." " We were up with the Piscataquay River, July 
the 9 (1665), when we received his Majesty's letter of Janu- 
ary 28. There being an excellent harbor, large and safe, and 
seven or eight ships in it, and great store of masts, we sent 
warrents to 4 towns upon that river, with an intent to have 
gotten that harbour fortified by them ; but the Massachusetts 
sent a prohibition to them and a letter to us, by their Marshall, 
which put a stop to our endeavours. This place, we think, 
deserves fortifying as much as any place in New-England." 
" We are told by some of themselves that they have appointed a 
General Court * * to consider how to manage their opposition, 
for * * they intend to maintain the bounds of their patent as 
far as they have stret':hed them." 

Then came a conflict of authority on the Piscatacjua. The 
King's commissioners having settled the Province of Maine 
underthe King's immediate government, one Abraham Corbett, of 
one of the Piscataqua towns, who had assisted the commis- 
sioners by circulating petitions and obtaining evidence, was 
summoned by the Massachusetts authorities to appear at court, 
and was arrested by the marshals of Dover and Portsmouth, and 
lodged in jail in Boston. Bail was refused for him. 

In the report of the King's commissioners are the following 
charges against the Massachusetts colony: "To elude His 
jyjj^tie's desire of their admitting men civill and of competent 
estates to be free-men, they have made an act whereby he that 
is 24 years old, a house keeper, and brings one certifi- 
cate of his civill life, another of his being orthodox in matters of 
faith, and a third of his paying ten shillings (beside head money), 
at a single rate, may then have liberty to make his desire known 
to the court and it shall be put to vote. 

" The comiss''^ examined many townshipps and found that 
scarce three in a hundred pay los. at a single rate ; yet if this rate 
was general it would be just; but hey' is a church member, 
though he be a servant and pay not 2d., may be a free-man. 

"They will not admit any who is not a church member of 
their church, to the communion, nor their children to baptisme, 
yet they will marry their children to those whom they will not 



1665] UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 63 

admit to baptisme, if they be rich, They did imprison and 
barbarously use Mr. Jourdain for baptising children. 

" Those whom they will not admit to the communion, they 
compel to come to their sermons by forcing from them five shill- 
ings for every neglect ; yet these men thought their own paying 
of one shilling, for not coming to prayer in England, was an in- 
surportable tyranny. 

" They have put many Quakers to death of other Provinces. 
* * First they banished them as Quakers upon pain of death, 
and then executed them for returning. * * 

" They have beaten sometojelly, and been (other ways) exceed- 
ing cruell to others. * * They yet pray constantly for their 
persecuted bretheren in England. 

"They have many things in their lawes derogatory to His 
Ma"*^'^ honour ; of which the Com"'^ made a breviat and desired 
that they might be altered ; but they have yet done nothing in 
it. Amongst others, whoever keeps Christmas day is to pay 
Five Pounds. 

" They caused, at length, a map of their Territories to 
be made, but it was made in a chamber by direction and 
guess. In it they claime Fort Albany, and beyond it all the 
land to the South Sea. By their south line they intrench upon 
the colonies of New-Plymouth, Rode Island and Conecticot, and 
on the East they have usurped Captain Mason's and Sr Ferdi- 
nand Gorges patents. 

"The comiss'^ being at Piscataquay when they receaved His 
Ma"''^ letter, which comanded them to see the Harbours 
fortified, &c., sent their warrants to fower towns upon that river 
requiring them to meet at such time and place to heare his 
Ma''^'= letter read ; one of these warrants was sent post to 
Boston, from whence two marshalls were sent by the Governor 
and Councell, with another warrant to forbid the townes either 
to meet or to do anything comanded them by the Com"^- at 
their utmost perill. 

" Colonel Whalley and Goff [the regicides] were entertained 
by the magistrates with great solemnity, and feasted in every 
place; after, they were told they were Traytors, and ought to 



64 IlISTOKV OF NKW IIAMPSHIKE. ['665 

be apprehended. They of this colony say' that King Charles 
y*^ First gave them power to make laws and execute them * * 
and that they are not obliged to the King, but by civility. 

"This colony furnished Cromwell with many instruments out 
of their corporation and their colledge ; and those that have 
retreated thither since His Ma'''="^ happy returne, are much 
respected and many advanced to be magistrates. They did 
solicit Cromwell, by one Mr. Winsloe, to be declared a Free 
State, and many times in their lawes stile themselves this State, 
this Commonwealth, and now believe themselves to be so. 

" They demand what taxes they please, but their accounts 
could never yet be seen. Some few soldiers they keep at their 
castle. * * They convert Indians by hiring them to come and 
hear sermons * * which the more generous natives scorne. 

" This colony, which hath engrossed the whole trade of New 
England, and is therefore the richest, hath many towns, but not 
one regularly built within its limits; w'^'> the comiss"'^ find to be 
Seconnet Brook on the southwest and Merrimack River on the 
northeast, and two right lines drawn from each of those two 
places till they come within twenty miles of Hudson's River. 

" The comodities of the countrey are fish, which is sent into 
France, Spaine and the Streights, pipe-staves, masts, firr-boards, 
some pitch and tarr, pork, beif, horses and corn ; which they 
send to Virginia, Barbadoes, &c., and take tobacco and sugar 
for payment, which they (after) send for England. There is 
good store of iron made in this Province. Theire way of govern- 
ment is Common-wealth-like ; their way of worship is rude and 
called Congregational] ; they are zealous in it, for thev persecute 
all other forms." 

The action of the Massachusetts authorities was prompt in 
arresting Corbet, who was an innkeeper at Portsmouth and had 
been active in circulating the petition to the King, but revealed 
that he was not alone in his wish to escape from the tyranny of 
the elders. The next year he was arraigned before the General 
Court and fined £,2.0, and costs ^£5, and put under bonds of ;i£^iOO 
for his peaceable demeanor, " prohibiting his irregular practices 
by retailing Beer, Cider, Wine or Licquors," and disabling him 



1669] UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 65 

from "bearing any office in the town where he lives." During 
the year 1665, the General Court so far complied with the wishes 
of the King, as expressed by the King's commissioners, as to vote 
a fortification at the mouth of the Piscataqua, and the people of 
Dover voted a "Terrett" upon the meetinghouse " for to hang a 
bell." 

In 1666 the Massachusetts colony received a summons from 
King Charles II to send as delegates four or five persons to 
represent their cause before him, and explain their course towards 
the King's commissioners, and were forbidden to punish any 
one for petitioning or appealing to the King. 

In 1667 the General Court granted a township, six miles 
square, above Dover, to be within the jurisdiction of Dover, to 
pay for fortifying the mouth of Piscataqua, and ordered that all dis- 
affected persons seeking to change the form of government of 
the townships on the Piscataqua should be sent to Boston for 
trial. 

In 1667 the fur trade with the Indians had become so import- 
ant that the Provincial Court of Massachusetts passed an act 
regulating it ; and the exclusive right of this trade upon the 
Merrimack river was sold to Major Simon Willard for the sum 
of jC2^. The trade on Nashua river was sold at the same time 
for £8 ; that of Penichuck brook and its tributaries was sold to 
Joseph Burroughs for £4. Almost all the first land grants were 
selected by eager adventurers, with a view of having within their 
borders the greatest facilities for trapping. 

In 1668 the bounds of Exeter were determined, and trees 
fit for masts were reserved as public property, and a proper 
observance of the Sabbath was commanded. No servile work 
was allowed that day, save works of piety, of charity, or of 
necessity. The penalty was more severe in case of " prophan- 
€rs or high handed presumption." Who ever should " travel! 
upon the Lord's day, either on horse backe or on foote, or by 
boats from or out of their owne towne to any unlawful assembly 
or meeting not allowed by law," were " declared to be pro- 
phaners of the Sabbath," as were those who did "servile work." 

In 1669, Portsmouth appropriated ^60 per annum for seven 



66 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l6/6 

years for aid to Harvard College. The inhabitants of that 
part of Dover, called Oyster River, petitioned the General Court 
for parish privileges, and that they might have a minister set- 
tled over them. They mustered seventy soldiers. 

In 1670 there were sixty soldiers in Exeter, and John Gilman 
was commissioned lieutenant. A causeway was built across the 
marsh at Hampton Dover and Portsmouth seem to have been 
raised to the dignity of a county. 

In 1 67 1 the custom dues on imported goods and powder, 
raised at Portsmouth, were declared due to the colonial treasury, 
except such as were imported by the inhabitants of the river 
settlements. 

The next year, 1672, the duties collected at Portsmouth, as well 
as rates derived from the selling of beer and wine, were voted to 
be used in fortifying the harbor. Dunstable, including Nashua 
and a part of Hudson, Londonderry, Litchfield, Merrimack, 
Amherst, Milford and Hollis, was incorporated by Massachusetts 
authority, Oct. 15, 1673; and a tract of land for a village was 
laid out above Dover township to the inhabitants of Portsmouth. 

The soldiers of Great Island, with the soldiers of Kittery, 
from Spruce Creek eastward, were detailed to garrison the fort 
on Great Island, and Richard Cutt was appointed commander-in- 
chief of the fort and garrison. 

In 1674 Mr. Stoughton was appointed to hold court in Nor- 
folk county, and Major Thomas Clark in Dover and Portsmouth, 
as well as in Yorkshire, in Maine. 

In 1675 the inhabitants of Oyster River were granted libeity 
to choose their selectmen. A company of forty men was placed 
under command of Major Waldron, twenty -two of whom were 
from Esse.\' County. Hampton was assessed ;£28 and Exeter 
;£S, to defray the expenses of the war, which will be treated 
of in another chapter. 

In 1676 a force of seventy men from Essex, and sixty from Mid- 
dlesex, were sent as a reinforcement to the Piscataqua. Exeter 
and Haverhill were declared frontier towns. Scouting parties 
were maintained, and a bounty was offered for scalps of Indians. 
The county of Dover and Portsmouth were authorized to make 



1679] UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS. dj 

a special rate of taxation to meet the expenses of tlie war. 
The refugees from the eastward were enrolled ; and seventy 
soldiers from Suffolk were sent to reinforce Piscataqua. Major- 
General Denison was appointed commander-in-chief. During 
the war a contest was being carried on in England of much im- 
portance to New Hampshire, as Robert Tufton Mason, grand- 
son of Captain John Mason, had presented his petition to the 
King, claiming the Province of New Hampshire as his patrimony, 
while his claim was being combatted by William Stoughton 
and Peter Bulkley, the agents of the Massachusetts colony. 
The hearing was had in April, 1677. Gorges, the claimant of 
Maine, who brought his suit jointly with Mason, won his case, 
when his claim was promptly bought up by the Massachusetts 
agents. Mason's claim was not for the government but for 
the land, and was left open for further adjudication. Edward 
Randolph, Mason's kinsman and agent, visited New England in 
the summer of 1676, and rather caustically reported on the 
state of affairs in the colonies to the Council of Trade : " No 
advantages, but many disadvantages, have risen to the English 
by this warr, for about six hundred men have been slain and 
twelve captains, most of them stout and brave persons and of 
loyal principles, whilst the Church members had liberty to stay 
at home and not hazard their persons in the wilderness." So it 
is not surprising that the next year, 1677, a more stringent 
observance of the Sabbath was ordered. " Offenders that shall 
any way transgress against the Laws, title Saboath, either in 
meeting house by abusive carriage or misbehavior, by making 
any noyse or otherwise, or during the day * * shall * * 
be * * put into a cage in Boston, set up in the market place," 
* * and in other towns where county courts shall appoint, and 
there remain till tried. The Indians about the Piscataqua who 
had submitted were held on a resei-vation at Cocheco, and were 
forbidden to carry arms unless licensed by Major Waldron. 

The commission constituting a President and Council for the 
Province of New Hampshire passed the Great Seal of England, 
Sept. 18, 1679. 

The erection of New Hampshire into a royal province was 



68 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1679 

undoubtedly due to the claims of Mason, who could get no 
redress from the Massachusetts courts. As events proved, he 
found the people of the new Province, who had enjoyed possession 
of their lands for over half a century, as bitterly opposed to his 
claims and demands for rent as ever. They threw every obsta- 
cle in his way, and he got very little satisfaction from the 
arrangement. He died a disappointed man. 

During the union with Massachusetts the Congregational, or 
republitan form of church government, had become firmly 
seated in the four townships, and the people had become accus- 
tomed to self-government, in open town meeting. From feudal 
dependents they had become independent freemen, jealous of 
their rights and impatient of an irresponsible authority. Many 
of the more severe laws of the Bay Colony, on account of public 
sentiment, were a dead letter in their courts. Their descend- 
ants have only to blush at the whipping of some Quaker women. 
On the other hand, they had submitted to strict laws, established 
an impartial judiciary, built churches and settled learned 
orthodox ministers, called in the schoolmaster and contributed 
to the enlargement of Harvard College, and had been greatly 
prospered in their agriculture and in their commerce. Already 
the foundation of large fortunes had been gathered in Ports- 
mouth and on Great Island. 

They had become not only a law-abiding, but a religious com- 
munity, and as Church and State were closely identified in 
those early days, before considering the Indian wars, it may 
be of interest to glance at the 

CuiRcii History. 

To appreciate fully the importance of the Church in early colonial history, 
it must be remembered that it was not until nearly half a century after the 
Revolution that Church and State were finally separated in New England. 
Over the most of the civilized world, at that period, the Pope claimed and 
exercised supreme authority. Northern Germany and northern Europe gen- 
erally had followed the lead of Luther, Calvin and other reformers, and had 
separated from the Church of Rome. In England, commencing with Henry 
VIII, the crown had assumed to be at the head of spiritual as well as 
temporal affairs, and arbitrarily dictated the creed and the forms of wor- 
ship. To escape this tyranny, the Pilgrims and Puritans, front among 



179- UN'KI.N WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 69 

whom came the early settlers of Hampton, Exeter and Dover, had obtained 
their charter for New England. The form of government which they estab- 
lished was a theocracy as well as a democracy, under which the Church was 
all important. The Puritans, however, while claiming toleration for them- 
selves, were not willing to grant toleration to others. Respect for the 
Church and for the ministers and for the ordinances of religion was rigidly 
entorced, severe punishment being inflicted for the slightest departure from 
uniformity of belief. The ministers, in one sense, were the rulers of the 
community, and as such deserve a place in the civil history of the Common- 
wealth. Descent from one of these early magnates, to a New Englander, is 
equivalent to a patent of nobility. 

When the township of Hampton was granted for a plantation, in Septem- 
ber, 163S, some of tlie grantees were already "united together by Church 
government." The original members of the Church and the first settlers of 
the town, generally, were Puritans. They brought a pastor with them, and 
soon after their arrival they selected a site and built a meeting-house. Rev. 
Stephen Batchelor, the first pastor, may be regarded as the father and founder 
of the town. At that time he was not far from seventy-seven years old. On 
landing in Boston, in 1632, he joined his son-in-law, Christopher Ilussey, at 
Lynn, and later made the settlement at Hampton. In 1639, Rev. Timothy 
Dalton was associated with Mr. Batchelor, but dissensions arose and Mr. 
Batchelor accepted a call to Exeter. In 1656, or 1657, he returned to England, 
where he died at the age of one hundred years. His associate, Mr. Dalton, 
was six'y 3'ears of age when he settled in Hampton. In 1647 he had asso- 
ciated with him Rev. John Wheelwright, formerly pastor of the church at 
Exeter, and later from Wells, who remained ten years. In 1658, Mr. Wheel- 
wright was in England, where he met his old collegefriend, Oliver Cromwell, 
but on the restoration of Charles II he returned to America and was settled 
over the church in Salisbury, where he died,' the oldest pastor in New 
England. Rev. Seaborn Cotton,- eldest son of Rev. John Cotton, of 
Bo^-ton, was associated with Mr. Dalton, in 165S, and on Mr. Dalton's 
death, in 1660, was ordained pastor. He died suddenly in April, 1686, 
"a thorough scholar and an able preacher." The town gave Mr. 
Cotton a fiirm of two hundred acres. His wife was Dorothy, daughter 
of George Simon Bradstreet. After his father's death. Rev. John Cotton, 2d,-' 
preached occasionally, as did Rev. John Pike, who had been driven from 
Dover by Indian depredations. ?Ir. Cotton was ordained minister at Hamp- 
ton in 1696. He was "beloved and respected, and died, very much lamented," 
in 1710, very suddenly, and was succeeded by Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, who 
continued as pastor until 1734- Mr. Gookin's successor was Rev. Ward 
Cotton, who continued to preach until 1765, when he was dismissed and was 
succeeded by Rev. Ebenezer Thayer,'' whose labors terminated with his life, 
in 1792. After his death, there came a rupture between town and church, the 

' November, 1679. 

- Born in 1633 (Harvard College, if.51 ), while bis parents were crossing the .\tlantic. 

3 Born in ilSsS, Harvard College, ih-jX. 4 |>.orn 1734, Harvard College, 1753. 



O HISTOKV OF NEW H AMJ'3HI 111-:. ['656 



former calling and settling, in 1796, Rev. William Pidgin.' and voting them- 
selves Presbyterians; the latter ordaining Rev. Jesse Appleton," the same 
year. Mr. Appleton remained at Hampton until elected second president of 
Bowdoiii College in 1S07. He married, in iSoo, Elizabeth, daughter of Hon. 
Robert Means of Amherst, and their daughter was the wife of President 
Franklin Pierce.' Mr. Pidgin was also dismissed in 1S07, receiving a call to 
Minot, Maine, and afterwards dying at Portland.'' After this the tv.-o factions 
became united, and settled, in 180S, the Congregational minister, Rev- Josiah 
Webster, who continued with the church until his death in 1S37. He was 
followed, in 1838, by Rev. Erasmus D. Eldredge; in 1S49, ^y ^^v- Solomon 
Payson Fiiy; in 1855, by Rev. John Colby. From this account it will be 
seen that the Congregational church of Hampton is the oldest in the State. 

At Exeter, after Mr. Wheelwright removed to Wells, in 1641, there was no 
settled minister, on account of divisions in the church, until Rev. Samuel 
Dudley, a son of Governor Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts, was settled in 
1650. There is no record of a cliurch during his ministry, which lasted until 
his death, in 16S3. A church wa.-s organized and Rev. John Clark ^ was 
settled in 169S. Rev. John Odlin" was settled in 1706; married the widow of 
his predecessor, and ministered to the town until his son, Rev. Woodbridge 
Odlin, was ordained as his father's colleague and successor in 1743. The 
son's ministry continued thirty-two years. Rev. Isaac Mansfield' was 
ordained in 1776 and dismissed in 17S7. He moved to his native town and 
became a magistrate. Rev. William F. Rowland" was settled in 1790 and 
dismissed in iSjS. He was succeeded in 1S29 by Rev. John Smith : in 1S3S. 
by Rev. William Williams; in 1S43, by Rev. Joy H. Fairchild; in 1845, by 
Rev. Roswell D. Hitchcock. There was a rupture, in 1744, of the church of 
Exeter, when the second church was formed, and Rev. Daniel Rogers" was 
first pastor. He was a descendant of John Rogers, the martyr of Smithfield. a 
friend of Whitefield, a pall-bearer at his funeral, and closed his ministry and 
life in 17S5. He was succeeded in 1792 by Rev. Joseph Brown, a native of 
Chester, England, who remained five \-ears. In 1S17, Rev. Isaac Hurd was 
settled and continued three years in the ministry. Rev. Asa D. Mann was 
settled, in 1851, as a colleague pastor. 

Rev. William Leveridge, the first minister of Dover, received the degree 
oi: A. B. from Cambridge College, England, in 1625: that of A. M. in 163c. 
He was an able and worthy Puritan minister, — ardent, industrious, enter- 
prising, and possessed a good deal of independence of character. He left 
Dover in 1635, from want of support, and died on Long Island in 1692. He 
was succeeded, in 1637, by George Burdet, 3 minister from Yarmouth, 
England, — restless, intriguing and ambitious, — whose course has been 

" Dartmouth College, 1794. = Bom 1772, Dartmouth College, 1792. 

3 Mr. Appleton died at Brunswick in iSi<). 4 In 1848, aged seventy-five. 

5 Bom in Newbury, Mass., in 1670; he died in 1705. 
' Born in Boston, i68j ; Harvard College, 1702 ; died in 1754. 

7 Born at Marblehead, 1750: Harvard College, 1767 ; died in 1S26. 

8 Burn in Plainfield, Conn., in 1761 ; Dartmouth College, 17S4 ; died in 1S4J. 
<) Harvard College. 1725. 



1641J UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS. ■Jl 

noted. Then came Hanserd Knollys,' who landed at Boston in 163S and 
the same year settled and organized the first church in Dover. In 
the trouble with Larkham, the more ardent Puritans sustained Knolljs, 
who, however, in 1641, became weary of contention and left the tield, 
returning to his aged father in England, where he joined the Baptists, and 
was persecuted till he died fifty years after. Thomas Larkham ^ was an able 
and learned man, but as turbulent as Burdet. He favored the Episcopacy, 
using its liturgy in burial services. He returned to England in 1643, became 
a devotedly pious man, and died in 1669. The Puritans liaving gained the 
ascendancy in Dover, the people applied to the authorities in Boston, for a 
minister, and Daniel Maud, a graduate of Emanuel College, Cambridge, a, 
schoolmaster in Boston, was settled and continued to minister to the parish^ 
from 1642 till his death in 1655. He was succeeded by Rev. John Rayner, 
Rev. John Rayner, Jr., and Rev. John Pike, before the separation from Massa- 
chusetts. Under the former came the trouble with the Qiiakers, the 
exchange of a drum for a bell for calling the worshippers together, and the 
building of a meeting-house at Oyster River; under the latter came the 
Indian troubles. 

Among the assets of Captain Jolin Mason, there were articles which indi- 
cated that some attention had been paid to religion — of the Established 
form. As early as 1640, a glebe of fifty acres was deeded to the church- 
wardens and a chapel and parsonage seem to have been built. The first 
orthodox minister was Joshua Moody, who was settled in 1658. To encour- 
age him, those who slept or took tobacco on the Lord's day during service 
were doomed to a cage. A church of eight members was organized in 1671. 
Al'terthe separation from Massachusetts, he got into trouble, in 16S4, with Gov- 
ernoi- Cranfield, for refusing to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
indiscriminatingly, was imprisoned and released only on his promising to 
leave the colony. He returned in 1693 and died in 1697. He was succeeded by 
Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, who was succeeded, in 1723, by Rev. John Fitch ; in 
1746, by-Rev. James Langdon, whowns called to be presidentof Harvard Col- 
lege in 1774; in 1779, by Rev. Joseph Buckminster ; in iSiJ.byRev. Israel W. 
Putnam. 

There is one feature of the union of New Hamp.shire and 
Massachusetts, the distorted construction of the Hilton Patent, 
which Mr. Jenness has carefully investigated, and from his 
valuable pamphlet the following extracts are taken : 

Having obtained jurisdiction over the territory about the 
Piscataqua river, the Massachusetts General Court, in j'une, 1641, 
enacted a law defining the Hilton Patent as e.xtending from 
the mouth of the river at Strawberry Bank, thence around the 

* Born in 1598, at Cawkwell, England ; a graduate at Cambridge, England, ordained in the Estab- 
lisl-ed Church in 1629. 

- Born in 1601 ; a graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge. 



72 }nSTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1665 

shores of the Great Bay up the Exeter river to Squamscott Falls, 
and three miles back into the country. The additional terri- 
tory thus embraced was known as the Squamscott Patent. 
This construction was never fully carried out, but served to 
furnish the Bay Colony with a pretext for jurisdiction. In the 
act of annexation, the voluntary submission of the planters 
and patentees was not mentioned, although their course alone 
made annexation possible ; but the Massachusetts authorities 
sagaciously resolved that the whole territory was " within the 
Massachusetts bounds." 

Having securely extended their jurisdiction, they had little or 
no further interest in the river patents ; but difficulties and 
injustices of many sorts soon sprang up all over the annexed 
territory, which long disturbed the quiet of the new govern- 
ment. When Dover was laid out, in 1642, Bloody Point was 
excluded from the new township. The following year, how- 
ever, the marsh and meadow and four hundred acres of upland 
on Bloody Point were annexed to Dover ; and in 1644 the entire 
neck of land was joined to that township. The inhabitants of 
Strawberry Bank and of Dover were hostile to the construc- 
tion placed upon the Hilton or Squamscott Patent. The lower 
plantation on the Piscataqua, after 1641, had undergone a com- 
plete transformation, civil and religious. A party of strict 
Puritans had, by the aid of Massachusetts, gotten possession of 
that plantation, and under the system of the Bay Colony were 
enabled to perpetuate their power at their own pleasure, and to 
allot among themselves, some eight or ten in number, nearly all 
the valuable common lands within their limits. According to 
a petition to the King, made in 1665 by some of the non-free- 
men of Portsmouth, " five or six of the richest men of the 
parish ruled, swayed, and ordered all offices, both civil and 
military, at their pleasure," and " have kept us under hard servi- 
tude, and denied us our public meeting, the common prayer 
sacraments, and decent burial of the dead ;" and "have also 
denied us the benefit of freemen * * and have engrossed the 
greatest part of the lands within the limits of the plantation 
into their own hantls," 



1665] UNION WITH IIASSACIILISETTS. 73 

In 1655 the General Court attempted a compromise, and 
appointed a committee to settle the bounds of the Squamscott 
Patent, and excluded all the settlements below Boiling Rock. 
John and Richard Cutts, Captain Brian Peiidleton, Richard Mar- 
tyn and Joshua Moodey, and a few others who then ruled the 
lower plantation and were owners of the Piscataqua or Great 
House Patent, accepted this line, but soon acquired by pur- 
chat-e, for a nominal sum, nearly all the lands embraced by their 
own claim. 

The only substantial advantage derived from the Massachusetts construction 
of the Hilton Patent was taken by the Massachusetts themselves. Jurisdic- 
tion over the Piscataqua had been obtained by the skilful use of that 
instrument, and once got it was firmly kept, after that instrument had dis- 
appeared. But this usurpation, of which it was said by Judge Potter, "a 
more unjust and tyrannical act never was perpetrated on this continent," was 
not destined to endure for many years. The people of the lower Piscataqua 
were in spirit deadly hostile to the Massachusetts Bay. Shortly after the 
annexation, a few of the Puritan sort and faith had crept into the country, 
and by the aid of the B.iy had seized on the offices and places of power and 
appropriated to themselves nearly all the common lands; but the original 
planters grew daily more and more incensed. In 1651 the inhabitants 
of Strawberry Bank openly rebelled and attempted to withdraw their subjec- 
tion to the Boston government. But this outbreak was suppressed. Another 
elTort was made to the same purpose on the arrival of the Royal Commis- 
sioners, in 1664, though without permanent success. But in 1679, the 
Massachusetts usurpation over the Piscataqua was terminated by the erection 
of New Hampshire into a Royal Province. 

Thus did the last fruits of the Hilton Patent decay and perish; thus were 
the angry broils of forty years composed. The proprietors of the Patent 
had, after all, profited little or nothingAv the attempted appropriation of 
Piscataqua lands. The Massachusetts were in the end coni'ielled to disgorge 
the purloined jurisdiction they had so uneasily obtained and kept, and thus 
retributive justice was at last meted out to all actors in the transaction. 

It was the desire of Massachusetts Bay to include the Piscataqua region 
within her limits and to secure there a good neighborhood of" honest men." 
which led her magistrates to effect, through their friend, Captain Thomas 
Wiggin, in 1633, a purchase and transfer of the Hilton Point Patent to the 
Puritan Lords and Gentlemen of Shrewsbury, whose successors in 1641, in 
accordance, we suppose, with the original understanding, made a full sub- 
mission of the Patent to Massachusetts jurisdiction. At tlie same time, in 
furtherance of the same general design, a statutory construction was pu* 
upon the Patent, by which it was split into two distinct portions, and the 
lower or .Squamscott portion was violently stretched, so as to cover the whol"T 
southern bank of the river from Squamscott Falls to its mouth. 



74 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['665 

The Hilton Patent having thus served its political and religious purpose, 
ivas never fully enforced. Large portions of its territory were granted to 
Dover, and a still larger part was letained by Strawberry Bank, and in the 
conclusion o£ the whole matter, the Squamscott patentees took but trifling 
advantages from the distorted misconstruction of their grant. 

The long controversy was no doubt of trifling importance, but whoever 
will study it attentively will see displayed such a stubborn conflict between 
patentee and planter, such a hot contention between Royalist and Round- 
head, such a fierce hatred between Puritan and Churchman, and at all times 
such political sagacity and vigor of thought, as make the story of the Hilton 
Point Patent the most instructive, if not entertaining, in the early annals of 
New Hampshire. 

Until a very recent date, the only original materials for a real history of 
New Hampshire during the first half century of its existence, available 
to students, were the scanty relics of town and county records, and a 
few documents preserved among the archives of Massachusetts, or in 
private hands, together with some casual hints and prejudiced notices of the 
Piscataqua to be found among the historians of Plymouth and the Bay. 

Governors of M.\ssachvsetts during the Union. 

At the time of the union, Richard Bellingham was governor of Massachu- 
setts. He was re-elected in 1654 and again in 1665, serving eight years for 
his last term. He died Dec. 7, 1672, aged eighty years. 

John Winthrop, a former governor, was re-elected in 164J, 1^43. 1646 
1647 and 164S. He died Match 26, 1649, aged sixty-one years. 

John Endicott was elected governor in 1644, 1649, 1651, 1652, 1653 and 
every 3'ear for ten years from 1655. He died March 15, 1665, aged seventy- 
six years. 

Thomas Dudley was elected governor in 1645, and was re-elected in iCi^o. 
He died July 13, 1653, aged seventy-seven years. 

John Leverett was elected governor in 1673 and served six years. He died 
March 16, 1679. 

Simon Bradstreet, elected governor in 1679, served until 1685. He was 
again elected in 16S9 and served three years. He died March 27, 1697, aged 
94 years. 

During the union with Massachusetts, Hampton was represented at the 
General Court at Boston by Lieutenant William Hayward,* William English, 
William Estow,* JeofTrey Mingay, Roger Shaw, Mr. Anthony Stanyon,* 
Henry Dow, Mr. Robert Page, Lieutenant Christopher Hussey, Mr. William 
Fuller, Mr. Samuel Dalton,* Captain William Gerrish, Mr. Thomas Mai'ston, 
Mr. Joshua Gilman. 

The magistrates of the town, aside from the representatives, were William 
Wakefield, John Cross, and James Davis. 

* Magistrates. 




GOVERNOR WINTHROP. 



76 IlISTOKV OI' NEW IIA.MPSHIHE. [1679 

Strawberry Bank, or Portsmouth, was represented at tlie General Court 
by Mr. James Parker, Mr. Stephen Winthrop, Mr. Brian Pendleton,* Mr. 
Henry Sherburne,* Mr. Nathaniel Fryer.* Mr. Elias Stileman.* Captain 
Richard Cutt,* Mr. Rich. Martyn,* John Cutt. of whom Brian Pendleton and 
Richard Cutt were longest in service. 

The magistrates of the town, during the union aside from the representa- 
tives, were Francis Williams, Thomas Warnerton, Ambrose Gibbons, Renald 
Fernald and Thomas Daniell. 

Dovci- was represented at the General Court by Edward Starbuck. Mr. 
William Hilton,* Caplain Thomas Wiggin,* William Heath. William Wal- 
dron.* William Furbur, Lieutenant John Baker, Mr. Valentine Hill,* Major 
Richard Waldron,* Lieutenant Richard Cooke, Lieutenant Peter Coffin, 
Anthony Nutter. Aside from these, the magistrates were Edward Hilton, 
William Waldron, George Smith, William Pomfret, John Hale, Thomas 
Clarke and Edward Colcord. Richard Waldron, first elected in 1654, was 
re-elected twenty-three consecutive times, twenty-five times in all, being in 
command of a force during the King Philip war in I676. In 1679 he was 
elected from Kittery. Durini; eight sessions he was chosen speaker. 

Exeter sent no representative. Robert Smith and John Legatt were 
magistrates. 

* Magistrates. 



CHAPTER III. 
KING PHILIP'S WAR, 1675-1678. 

Long Peace — Character of Indians ^ Edward Randolph — French 
— Dutch — New York — Mohawks — Causes of War — Indian Vices — 
Sachem Philip — Mount Hope — Rum — Indian Shortcomings — Lic- 
ensing the Sale op Arms — Loss to the Colonies — ■ Loss to the 
Indians — ■ Philip's Straits — Terms of Peace — French Estimate of 
Indian Character — Kindness to Qi^iakers — Injustice to Indians 

— Indian Youth anxious for War — Sc^jando — Insultto SquAW — 
Attitude of Penacooks and Cochecos — Praying Indians — Their 
Loss — Murder of their Old People — Indian Depredations in 
New Hampshire — Peace — Death of Philip — Simon, Andrew, and 
Peter — War in Maine — Treachery at Major Waldron's Garrison 

— Expedition to Ossipee — Mohawks warring on Friendly Indians 
Defeat at Black Point — Major Andros and Peace — Independence 
OF THE Colonists — St. Castine. 

OOON after the juristliction of Massachusetts was cxtcncled 
over New Hampshire and the coast of western Maine, a 
combination had been effected between the New England c<il()n- 
ies for offensive and defensive purposes. According to its 
provisions, the quota of men and money required from eacli 
of the members of the combination was strictly determined in 
case of war ; and it had all the advantages of a .centralized, 
although a republican, government. It made possible the defeat 
and extermination of Philip and his followers. 

The colonists had been settled along the shores of New England 
for half a century before there was any general trouble with the 
natives. With the exxeption of the Pequod war, in which that 
tribe was practically exterminated, there had been a profound 
peace, the Indians in their contact with the white men even 



78 



lUSTOKV OK NEW llAMf SIl IKE. 



[1675 



submitting to the coloni:al laws. They were held accountable 
for crimes the same as the settlers, and even the hanging of an 
offending Indian, if done legally, did not provoke hostility 
between the races. We have been accustomed to take the 
Massachusetts view of the trouble which so exasperated the 



--Jf^ 




ITING THE SETTLERS 



Indians that a general war was waged all along the New England 
coast. Supposing the reader familiar with the often told story 
of the bravery of their ancestors, and the treachery and cruelty 
of their savage foes, a view of the other side may be of interest. 
Physically the American Indian is asplendi'l type of manhood. 



1775] KING Philip's wak. 79 

As he was found by the first comers, he was honest, honorable, 
and hospitable. He welcomed the newcomers as neighbors and 
surrendered to them for a paltry consideration his most valuable 
lands and privileges. 

The settlers did not treat them fairly. They were " children 
of the forest " and should have been treated as children or wards. 
The land was theirs by every human law and their rights should 
have been protected and guarded. Under a proper cultivation, a 
very small part of their territory would have amply sufficed for 
their maintenance and would have been as valuable as the vast 
area which they did not use and needed only for the wild game. 
For fifty years they had lived beside the settlers as friends. 

Edward Randolph came to New England in 1676, and from 
his report to the Council of Trade a few extracts ma)' show the 
view taken of the war by an unprejudiced Englishman. 

' The French have lield a civil con-espondence with the inhabitants of 
Hampshire, Maine and the Duke's Province, althougli llie government of 
Boston, upon all occasions, is imposing upon the French and encouraging 
an interloping trade, which causeth jealousies and fears in the inhabitants 
bordering upon Acadie, that the French will some time or other suddenly 
fall upon them, to the breach of the national peace.- The government of the 
Massachusetts hath a perfect hatred for the French, because of their too near 
neighborhood and loss of their trade, and look upon them with an evil eye, 
believing they had a hand in the late war with the Indians. * * * 

For the government of theMassachusetts loves no government that is not like 
their owne, and therefore they were more kind and friendly to the Dutch (even 
in time of warr) when they were possessed of New York, than they are to their 
countrymen, the English. 

However, the governor of New York hath proved very friendly' and 
serviceable to the Massachusetts in this warr, and had the magistrates of 
Boston either conferred with or hearkened to the advice of Colonel Andross, 
the Indian warr had either been diverted or proved less destructive, for he 
offered and would have engaged the Mohawks and Maquot Indians to have 
fallen upon the .Sachem Phillip and his confederates ; but his friendship, 
advice and offers were slighted. 

Nevertheless, Colonel Andross, out of his duty to his Majestie kept the 
aforesaid Indians from taking any part with the Sachem Phillip. 

Various are the reports and conjectures of the causes of the late Indian 
wars. Some impute it to an an imprudent zeal '' \ the magistrates of Boston 
to Christianize those heathens, be'bre they were civilized, and enjoining 
them to the strict observation of their laws, which, to people soe rude and 

■ X. H. p. p., vol. ;,p. 441. 



80 IlLSTORV OF NEW HAMI'SHIKE. [^775 

licentious hath proved even intolerable; and that the more, for while the 
magistrates, for Iheir profit, severely putt the laws in execution against the 
Indians, the people on the other side, for lucre and gain, intice and provoke 
the Indians to the breach thereof, especially to drunkenness, to which these 
people are so generally addicted, that they will strip themselves to the skin 
to have their fill of rum and brandy. 

The Massachusetts government having made a law that every Indian being 
drunk should pay ten shillings or be whipped, according to the discretion of 
the magistrate, many of these poor people willingly offered their backs to 
the lash, to save their money. Upon the magistrate finding much trouble 
and no profit to arise to the government by whipping, did change that pun- 
ishment of the whip into a ten days' work, for such as would not or could 
not pay the fine of tenn shillings; which did highly incense the Indians. 

ijome believe that there have been vagrant and Jesuitical priests, who have 
made it their business and design for some years past to go from sachem to 
sachem, to exasperate the Indians against the English and to bring them 
into a confederacy, and that tliey were promised supplies from France and 
other parts, to extirpate the English nation out of the continent of America. 

Others impute the cause to arise from some injuries offered to the .Sachem 
Phillip, for he being possessed of a tract of land called Mount Hope, a very 
fertile, pleasant and rich soil, some English had a mind to dispossess him 
thereof, who, never wanting some pretence or other to attain their ends, 
complained of injuries done by Piiillip and his Indians to their stocks and 
cattle. Whereupon tlie Sachem Phillip was often summoned to appear 
before the magistrates, sometimes imprisoned, and never released but upon 
parting with a considerable part of his lands. 

But the government of the Massachusetts (to give it in their own words) 
doe declare these are the great and provoking evils which God hath given the 
barbarous heathen commission to rise against them : 

The woful breach of the fifth commandment, in contempt of theirauthority, 
which is a sinn highly provoking to the Lord. 

For men wearing long hair and perriwigs made of women's hair. 

For women wearing borders of hair and for cutting, curlingand laying out 
their hair and disguising themselves by following strange fashions in their 
apparel. 

For prophaneness of the people in not frequenting their meetings, and 
others going away before the blessing is pronounced. 

For suffering the Qiiakers to dwell among them, and to sett up their 
thresholds by God's thresholds, contrary to their old laws and resolutions, 
■with many such reasons. 

But whatever was the cause, the English have contributed very much to 
their misfortunes, for they first taught the Indians the use of arms and 
admitted them to be present at all their musters and trainings, and showed 
them how to handle, mend and fix their musquets, and have been constantly 
furnished with all sorts of arms by permission of the government, soe that 
the Indians are become excellent fire-men, and at Natick, a town not far 



1/75] i^i-^fi riiii.ip's WAR. 8i 

distant from Boston, there was gathered a church of praving Indians who 
were exercised as trained bands, under officers of their own. These have 
been the most barbarous and cruel enemies to the English above an v otiier 
Indians, — Captain Tom, their leader, being l.ntely taken and hanged at 
Boston, with one other of their chiefs. 

That notwithstanding the ancient law of the country, made in 1633, that 
no persons should sell anv arms or ammunition to any Indian : * * yet 
the government of the Massachusetts, in the year 1657 (upon design to 
monopolize the whole Indian trade to themselves), did publish and declare 
that the trade of furs and peltry with the Indians, within that jurisdiction, 
did solely and properly belong to their commonwealth, and not to everv 
indifferent person ; and did enact that no person should trade with the 
Indians for any sort Of peltry, except such as were authorized by that Court : 
* * giving liberty to all such as should have license from them to sell unto 
any Indians, guns, swords, powder and shot, paying, etc. * * By which 
means the Indians have been abundantly furnished w-ith great store of arms and 
ammunition, to the utter ruin and undoing of many families in the neigh- 
boring colonies, for to enrich some few of their relations and church 
members. 

No advantages, but many di.sadvantages, have arisen to the English by the 
warr, lor about six hundred men have been slain and twelve captains, most 
of them stout and brave persons and of loyal principles, whilst the church 
members had liberty to stay at home and not hazard their persons in the 
wilderness. 

The loss to the English in the several colonies, in their habitations and 
stock, is reckoned to amount unto one hundred and fifty thousand pounds ; 
there having been about twelve hundred houses burnt, eight thousand head of 
cattle, great and small, killed, and many bushels of wheat, pease and other 
grain burnt (of which the Massachusetts colony hath not been damnified one 
third part, the great loss falling upon New Plymouth and Connecticut 
coloniesi, and upward of three thousand Indians, men, women and children, 
destroyed, who. if well managed, would have been very serviceable to the 
English: which makes all manner of labor dear. 

The warr, at present, is near ending, for Sachem Phillip, not being able to 
support his party or confederates, hath left them to make the best terms they 
can: he himself sculking in the woods with a small party of two or three 
hundred men, being in despair of making his peace. 

In Plymouth colony the Indians surrender themselves to Governor Wins- 
low upon mercy, and bring in all their arras, and are wholly at his disposal, 
excepting life and transportation ; but for all such as have been notoriously 
cruel to women and children, soe soon as discovered, they are to be executed in 
the sight of their fellow Indians. 

The government of Boston have concluded a peace upon these terms ; 

I. That there be from henceforward a firm peace between the English and 
Indians. 

3. That after the publication of the articles of peace by the General Court, 



82 IIISTOKV OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['775 

if any English sliall willfully kill an Indian, upon due proof lie shall die for 
the fact; and if an Indian kill an Englishman and escapeth, the Indians are 
to produce him, and he to pass tryal bj the English laws. 

3. That the Indians shall not conceal or entertain any known enemies to 
the English, but shall discover them and bring them to the English. 

4. That upon all occasions the Indians are to aid and assist the English 
against their enemies, and to be under English command. 

5. That all Indians have liberty to sit downe at theirformer habitations 
■without any lett or interruption. 

By this report it will be seen that the English lost six hundred 
men — the Indians, three thousand men, tuonien and children. 

Mens, du Bratz says of the Indians : " There needs nothing 
but prudence and good sense to persuade these people to what 
is reasonable and to preserve their friendship without interrup- 
tion. We may safely affirm, that the differences we have had 
with them have been more owing to the French than to them. 
When they are treated violently or oppressively, they have no 
less sensibility of injuries than others." They are said to have 
been cruel. So have been all races and nations, rude or civilized, 
from the Persians, Romans, Carthaginia"hs, to the modern Euro- 
pean people. The English have always been cruel. There 
are cruel laws on the statute books of New Hampshire to-day. 
If they were treacherous, so were their foes. A Quaker would 
trust them, it seems, rather than the tender mercies of the Mas- 
sachusetts magistrates, who bored his tongue, lopped off his ears, 
and put him to death. 

It is said that Philip was forced on by the fury of his young- 
men, sorely against his own judgment and that of his chief 
counsellors ; and that as he foresaw that the English would, in 
time, establish themselves and extirpate the Indians, so he 
thought that the making war upon them would only hasten the 
destruction of his own people. The inhabitants of Bristol show 
a particular spot where Philip received the news of the first 
Englishman that was killed with so much sorrow as to cause 
him to weep : a few days before he had rescued one who had 
been taken captive by his Indians and privately sent him home. 

There dwelt near the river Saco, a sachem named Squando, 
ajjerson of the highest dignity, importance and influence among 



.1675] Kixii i'im.n>'s WAK. S3 

all the eastern Imlians. His squaw, passing along the river in 
a canoe, with her infant child, was met by some rude sailors, 
who, having heard that the Indian children could swim as natu- 
rally as the young of the brute kind, in a thoughtless and un- 
guarded humor overset the canoe. The child sunk and the 
mother instantly diving fetched it up alive, but the child dying 
soon after, its death was imputed to the treatment it had received 
from the seaman ; and Squando was so provoked that he con- 
ceived a bitter antipathy to the English and employed his great 
art and influence to excite the Indians against them.^ 

The first alarm of the war in the Plymouth colony spread 
great consternation among the distant Indians and held them a 
while in suspense what part to act. Quarrels and misunder- 
standings soon drew the Eastern Indians into the contest.^ 

In this first war it is uncertain just what part the native New 
Hampshire Indians took. In 1660, Passaconaway, the chief of 
the Penacooks, to whom all the New Hampshire Indians were 
in subjection, had relinquished all authority over his tribe to his 
son Wannalancet. Numphow, who was married to one of Pas- 
saconaway's daughters, was the chief for some years of the vil- 
lage at Pawtucket Falls. In 1669, Wannalancet, in dread of the 
Mohawks, went down the river with his whole tribe, and located 
at Waaiasit, and built a fortification on Fort Hill, in Belvidere, 
which was surrounded with palisades. The white settlers in the 
vicinity, catching the alarm, took refuge in garrison houses. In 
1674 there ware at Wamesit fifteen families, or seventy-five souls, 
enumerated as Christian Indians, aside from about two hundred 
who adhered to their primitive faith in the Great Spirit. 'Nump- 
how was their magistrate as well as chief. The log meeting 
house presided over by the Indian preacher, Samuel, stood near 
the Eliot church in Lowell. In May of each year came Eliot 
and Gookin : the former to give spiritual advice, the latter to 
act as umpire or judge, having jurisdiction of higher offences 
and directing all matters affecting the interests of the village. 
Wannalancet held his court as sachem in a log cabin near 
Pawtucket Falls. At the breaking out of King Philip's War, 



84 IIISTOKV OF NEW IIAMPSHIKE. [l^/S 

he, with the local Indians, are said to have remained faithful to 
the counsels of Passaconaway to be friends with the English, and 
either took sides with the colonists or remained neutral. Be- 
tween the two parties they suffered severely. Some were put 
to death by Philip, for exposing his designs; some wer^put to 
death by the colonists, as Philip's accomplices ; some fell in 
battle, fighting for the whites ; some were slain by the settlers, 
who mistrusted alike praying and hostile Indians. During the 
following year, 1676, the able-bodied Indians of Wamesit and 
Pawtucket withdrew to Canada, to be out of the contest, leaving 
a few of their helpless and infirm old people at the mercy 
of their neighbors. When the Indians returned, after peace had 
been declared, their old people and dependents were no more, 
having been wantonly murdered, and their lands confiscated. 
After a while, having been located on an island in the river, 
they had parted with their last acre, and in after years took 
refuge with the St. Francis tribe on the St. Lawrence. 

Squando, possibly, was the chief who directed the attack on 
tlie New Hampshire settlements. The war raged mainly to the 
eastward and to the westward, the trouble in New Hampshire 
being caused by one or more small companies of mischievous 
Indians. In September they burned two houses at Oyster 
River, killed two men in a canoe and carried away two captives, 
both of whom soon after made their escape. About the same 
time a party of four laid in ambush near the road between 
Exeter and Hampton, and killed Goodman Robinson. His son, 
who was with him, escaped into the swamp, and reached Hamp- 
ton about midnight. They took another captive, who escaped 
by the help of an Indian. A few days later they made an 
assault on a house in Newichawannock and captured two children. 
The two following days they made several appearances on both 
sides of the river, using much insolence, and burning two houses 
and three barns, with a large quantity of grain. Five or six 
houses were burned at Oyster River and two more men were 
killed. A scouting party from Dover, of twenty young men^ 
came upon a party of five Indians near a deserted house, two of 
whom the)' captured, tne others escaping. All the plantations 



16/5] 



UIN"G PIIII.IP S WAK. 



85 



:it Piscutaqua were now filled with fear and confusion. Business 
was suspended, and every man was obliged to provide for his 
own and his family's safety. They took up their quarters in 
the garrison houses and were on guard night and day, siil^ject 
to continual alarms.^ 




GARRISON HOUSE, BUILT ABOUT 1645. 



In October, a day of fasting and prayer was observed. Soon 
after, an old man named Beard was killed at Oyster River. A 
party of Indians threatened Portsmouth from the Maine side, 
but a pursuing" party compelled them to abandon their jwcks 
and plunder. They soon after did more mischief at Dover and 
Lamprey River, and killed one or two men at Kxeter. The 
Massachusetts government planned an attack, late in the fall, 
upon the Indian settlement at Ossipee or Pigwacket, but it was 
not carried out on account of the deep snow and the severity of 
the weather. 

These Indians, during the winter, were pinched with famine, 
and having lost about ninety of their number, bv war and want 
of food, sued for peace. They came to Major Waldron, expres.sed 



86 



HISTUKV OF NEW HAMPSHIKE. 



;i676 



great sorrow for what had been done and promised to be quiet 
and submissive. By his mediation, a peace was concluded with 
the whole body of eastern Indians, which continued until 
August, 1676. The restoration of the captives made the peace 
more pleasant. 




TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN THE INDIANS AND THE SETTLERS. 

The affairs of Phili]i, who renewed hostilities in the spring, 
became more and more desperate. Many of liis allies and 
dependents forsook him, and he was slain in August. The 
western Indians who had been engaged in the war, now fearing 
total extirpation, endeavored to conceal themselves among their 
brethren 01 Penacook who had not jomcd in the war, and with 
those of Ossipee and Pigwacket who had made peace. Several 
of them were taken at different times and delivered up to public 
execution. Three of them, Simon, Andrew and Peter, who had 
been concerned in killing Thomas Kimball of Bradford,' and 

^ Delknap. 



1676] 



KING PHILU^ 



^7 



taking his famil)' captive, restored the woman and the children. 
It being doubted whether this act of submission was sufficient 
atonement, they were committed to Dover prison for trial. 
Fearing the result of the trial, they escaped and joined the 
Indians of the Kennebec and Androscoggin, who renewed hos- 
tilities in August, and later they were active in distressing the 
people on the Piscataqua. 




DEATH OF KING PHIUP. 

This renewal of hostilities in 1676 occasioned the sending of 
two companies to the eastward, under Captains Joseph Syll and 
William Hathorne. In the course of their march they came to 
Cocheco early in September, " where four hundred mixed 
Indians were met at the house of Major Waldron, with whom 
they had made peace and whom they considered as their friend 
and father. The two captains would have fallen upon them at 
once, having it in their orders to seize all Indians who had been 
concerned in the war. The major dissuaded them from that 
purpose, and contrived the following stratagem" ^ — or treach- 

■ Belknap. 



88 HISIUKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1676 

ery, which led to untold horrors in years to come. " He pro- 
posed to the Indian.s to have a training the ne.\t day, and a sham 
fight, after the English mode ; and summoning his own men, 
with those under Captain Frost of Kittery, they, in conjunction 
with the two companies, formed one party, and the Indians 
another. Having diverted them for a while in this manner, 
and caused the Indians to fire the first volley, by a peculiar 
dexterity the whole body of them (except two or three) were 
surrounded before they could form a suspicion of what was 
intended. They were immediately seized and disarmed, without 
the loss of a man on either side. A separation was then made. 
Wannalancet, with the Penacook Indians and others who had 
joined in making peace the winter before, were peaceably dis- 
missed ; but the strange Indians (as they were called), wht) had 
fled from the southward and taken refuge among them, were 
made prisoners, to the number of two hundred, and being sent 
to Boston, seven or eight of them, who were known to have 
killed any Englishmen, were condemned and hanged. The rest 
were sold into slavery in foreign parts." " This action was 
highly applauded by the voice of the colony." ' 

"The remaining Indians, however, looked upon the conduct of 
Major Waldron as a breach of faith, inasmuch as they had taken 
those fugitive Indians under their protection and had made 
peace with him." 

"A breach of hospitality and friendship, as the)- deemed this 
to be, merited, according to their principles, a se\'ere revenge, 
and was never forgotten or forgiven. The major's situation on 
this occasion was, indeed, e.\tremely critical, and he could not 
have acted either way without blame. It is said that his own 
judgment was against any forcible measure, as he knew that 
many of those Indians were true friends of the colon)-." 

Late in the fall an expedition was undertaken to Ossipee to 
destroy the Indian fort at that point, but they returned without 
meeting a hostile Indian. A peace was brought about in Nov- 
ember, through Mogg, a Penobscot Indian, with the Penobscot 
and Eastern tribes, and several captives were returned. A fear 

■ Belknap. 



1677] K]NG Philip's wak. 89 

that the Indians diil not make the peace in good faith led to an 
expedition under ]\Iajor W'akiron in February, 1676-7, as far 
east as Pemaquid. The company started, "a day of prayer 
having been previously appointed for the success of the enter, 
prise," and again Major Waldron was charged with treachery, 
inasmuch as the company returned after having killed thirteen 
Indians in time of peace. Hostilities again commenced in 1677. 
Two envoys from Massachusetts visited the warlike Mohawks 
an I secured their alliance to punish the eastern Indians. About 
thj middle of March the Mohawks made their appearance at 
Amoskeag" Falls, when they fired upon a son of Wannalancet. 
'• Presently after this they were discovered in the woods near 
Cocheco. Major Waldron sent out eight of his Indians, whereof 
Blind Will was one, for further information. They were all 
surprised together by a company of Mohawks, — two or three 
escaped, the others were either killed or taken." Blind Will, 
who was a chief of much influence, was killed. Two who were 
taken with him, and escaped, reported that the mission of the 
Mohawks was to kill all the Indians in these parts without 
ilistinction. As the attacks of the Mohawks happened to be 
always on the friendly and unarmed Indians, they became 
estranged from the English and took refuge with the French in 
Canada. From friends many of the Cocheco tribe became cruel 
enemies. Nor did the Mohawks inspire the hostile Indians of 
Maine with terror; they commenced hostilities early in the 
spring. The three Indians, Simon, Andrew, and Peter, before 
mentioned, killed John Keniston in Greenland. In May si.v 
friendly Indians were surprised near Portsmouth by a party led 
by Simon. In June, four men of Hampton were killed. An 
e.vpeditioii of two hundred Natick Indians and forty soldiers, 
under Captain Benjamin Swett of Hampton, started on an expe- 
dition to the Kennebec, but at Black Point, at the mouth of the 
Scarborough river, were decoyed into a general engagement 
with the Indians, and lost sixty of their number, including the 
captain, before they could retreat into the fort. The victorious 
savages then surprised about twenty fishing vessels, at anchor 
along the coast, their crews falling an easy prey. All through 



90 



HISTOKV OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



1678 



the summer, the Indians continued their depredations and kept 
the settlers along the eastern coast in constant alarm, while the 
war greatly reduced their number. 




THE CONFLICT. 



In August, Major Andros, governor of- New York, took pos- 
session of the district of Maine, which had been granted to the 
Duke of York, fortified Pemaquid, and concluded a treaty of 
peace with the Indians, who returned their prisoners and the 
captured fishing vessels. 

In the spring of 1678, commissioners were appointed to settle 
a formal treaty of peace with Squando, which was made at 
Casco, when the remaining captives were returned to their 
friends. 

Thus ended a war of three ye.irs duration. The Massachu- 
setts government carried it on without appealing to the King 
for assistance, and took upon themselves all the expense. 
Through it all they conducted themselves as an independent 
State. Contemporary authority states that the Indians were 



\6~S\ Kim; i'liii.ir's vvak. ql 

su|i[)lied with arms ami amnninition by the Baron de St. Castine, 
who occupied a plantation on the east side of Penobscot Bay, 
where the town of Castine is situated, but this was never cor- 
roborated. The settlers themselves hatl furnished the Indians 
enough ammunition for the campaign. 



CHAPTER IV. 

R O YAL PRO] INCE, 1 680 - 1 692. 

Condition of Affairs — John Cutt — Council — Assembly — Laws — 
Capital Offences — Penal Offences — Grants Confirmeu — Ran- 
dolph — Barefoote — Mason — 'Richard Waluron — Tax-Payers in 
New Hampshire — Cranfield — Edward Gove's Rebellion — Law- 
siiTs — Appeal TO King — Riots — Joshua Moodey — Dudley — An- 
DRos — Revolution — Union with Massachusetts — King William's 
War. 

' I 'HE people of the four towns of New Hampshire were 
incorporated as a Royal Province without being consulted 
as to their wishes. They had become accustomed to the laws 
enacted by the Bay Colony, and their deputies had assisted 
in framing them. They enjoyed many privileges under the 
republican government which had been over them, which they 
could foresee were to be abridged ; and they knew that the new 
government was imposed upon them to help Mason perfect bis 
claim to the Province. During the union, the Massachusetts 
settlements had spread out over the State across the Connec- 
ticut river ; while the four New Hampshire towns, save for the 
natural increase within their borders, remained iti statu quo, 
from the fact that there was no competent authority to grant 
townships or lands. They had become attached to their homes 
and farms, their hills and valleys, with a patriotism natural to 
the Saxon race, had defended their possessions from savage 
Indians, and were united and determined to hold them against 
any claimants. They made no claim to the wild lands, but 
demanded peaceful possession of what they had reclaimed from 
the wilderness, had occupied over half a century, and had 
defended with their best blood. 



l68o] KOVAI, PROVINCE. 93 

When the loui- towns of I'ortsniouth, Dover, Exeter and 
Hampton were taken from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, 
and elevated to the ambitions condition of a Royal Province, they 
included within their bounds two hundred and nine qualified 
voters — less than are now registered in many of the smaller 
towns of the State — and they would be now entitled to only 
two representatives in our present Legislature. Their export 
trade consisted of masts, planks, boards, staves and other lumber, 
of great bulk and little value. The fishing business had sought 
other ports. There was not enough grain raised for home con- 
sumption, and the people were slowly recovering from their losses 
incurred by the disastrous Indian conflict, in which houses and 
barns had been burned, stock killed, fields laid waste, and many 
of the most promising of the rising generation had fallen victims 
to the fatal tomahawk and scalping knife. Taxes, under the 
circumstances, were very burdensome. 

There was a fort, for the protection of the harbor, erected on 
Great Island during the Dutch war of 1665, which mounted 
eleven six pounders. There was also a battery of five guns at 
Portsmouth for the defence of the town against Indians. 

The records of the port for the year 1680 show that twenty- 
two ships, twenty barks and brigs, and five smaller vessels 
entered the harbor, mostly unladen, and seeking a load of 
lumber. 

For a number of years the inhabitants had been accustomed 
to the confinement and inconvenience of garrison life, and at 
the first indication of danger would hasten to the protection of 
a neighboring block-house. Arms were kept in readiness at all 
times for instant use, and were generally carried on all occa- 
sions, — in the field, at church, at town meeting and at all social 
gatherings. 

The commission constituting a president and council for the 
Province of New Hampshire was issued by Charles II, and 
passed the Great Seal, Sept. 18, 1679, and went into effect 
Jan. 21, 1680. The jurisdiction of Massachusetts was declared 
illegal, and John Cutt of Portsmouth was named the first presi- 
dent. With liini, as a council, were associated Richard Martin, 



94 HISTOKV OF XKW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 680 

William Vaughan and Thomas Daniel of Portsmouth, John 
Gilman of Exeter, Christopher Hussey of Hampton and Rich- 
ard Waldron of Dover. In accordance with the commission 
from the King, they chose to join them in the council Elias 
Stileman of Great Island, who had been a clerk of the county 
court, and whom they appointed secretary ; Samuel Dalton of 
Hampton, and Job Clements of Dover. The president nomi- 
nated Waldron as deputy or vice-president, Richard Martin 
was appointed treasurer, and John Roberts marshal. 

The administration included the leading men in the four 
townships. The president was one of three brothers, John, 
Robert, and Richard Cutt, from Wales, who settled on the 
Piscataqua before 1646. Richard at first carried on the fish- 
eries at the Isles of Shoals, and was afterward in command of 
the fort on Great Island. He died in Portsmouth in 1670. 
Robert Cutt located at Great Island, and afterwards at Kittery, 
where he carried on ship building. President John Cutt settled 
at Strawberry Bank, where he acquired much wealth from mer- 
cantile pursuits, but was aged and infirm when appointed to 
office. He was of acknowledged probity, and held in high 
esteem in Portsmouth. His daughter, Hannah, married Colonel 
Richard Waldron, son of Major Richard Waldron of Dover. 
His widow, Ursula Cutt, was killed by the Indians, in the 
summer of 1694, at "The Pulpit," a few miles up the Piscata- 
qua. President Cutt died in March, 168 1. The Cutt brothers 
were the largest landowners in Portsmouth in their generation. 

Of the council, Richard Martin was a man of good character 
and great influence, and had been very active in procuring the 
settlement of a minister in the town. He died thirteen years 
later. 

William Vaughan was a wealthy merchant, generous and 
public spirited, and of undaunted resolution. He was of Welsh 
e.\traction, but had been bred in London. He died in 17 19. 

Thomas Daniel was a person of much note and importance 
He died three years after he was appointed to office. 

John Gilman was a leading and influential man in Exeter, 
and the ancestor of many men of note in Province and State 
He died in July, 1708, at the age of eighty-four years. 



l68o] ROYAL PRONIN'CE. 95 

Christoiiher Hussey was a principal man in Hampton. He 
died four years later, at the age of seventy-five years. 

Major Richard Waldron of Dover, was a native of Somerset- 
shire, and one of the early settlers on the river. He had been 
especially prominent in military affairs, a justice in the Court of 
Associates, and many years a member of the Massachusetts 
General Court. According to Brewster, the "Rambler" of 
Portsmouth, his son was elected to the council tlie following 
year, and succeeded Cutt as president. Belknap and Farmer 
state that it was the father who succeeded Cutt. 

The commission was brought to Portsmouth by Edward Ran- 
dolph, whose caustic report of the causes and results of King 
Philip's war were noted in the preceding chapter, but three 
weeks elapsed before it was published. Dr. Belknap is of the 
opinion that the council accepted their offices with reluctance, 
and onlv to prevent others from being appointed whose aims 
might not be to the best interests of the commonwealth. 
"This change of government gratified the discontented few, 
but was greatly disrelished by the people in general, as they 
saw themselves deprived of the privilege of choosing their own 
rulers, which was still enjoyed by the other colonies of New 
England, and as they expected an invasion of their property 
soon to follow." When writs were issued for calling a General 
Assembly, the persons in each town who were judged qualified to 
vote were named in the writs, and the oath of allegiance was 
administered to each voter. A public fast was observed, to ask 
divine blessing on the approaching Assembly, which met at 
Portsmouth about the middle of March, and was opened with 
prayer and a sermon by Rev. Joshua Moodey. 

Portsmouth, with seventy-one cjualined voters, sent as depu- 
ties Robert Elliot, Philip Lewis and John Pickering ; Dover, 
with sixty-one voters, sent Peter Coffin, Anthony Nutter and 
Richard Waldron, Jr. ; Hampton, with fifty-seven voters, sent 
Anthony Stanyan, Thomas Marston and Edward Gove ; and 
Exeter, with twent)' voters, sent Bartholomew Tippen and 
Ralph Hall. 

Their first act was to acknowledge the royal favor of the 



g6 msTnuv oi" new hami'shike. [i6So 

commission creating a distinct government ; their next, to 
address the authorities of Massachusetts, excusing their acts of 
independence ; and then they proceeded to frame a series of 
laws for their future governnient. They discovered sixteen 
crimes worthv of capital punishment, and twenty-one penal 
offences. Among the former were idolatry, blasphemy, treason, 
rebellion, murder, witchcraft, perjury, man-stealing, cursing 
parents, and rebellion against parents ; among the latter were 
-swearing, profaning the Lord's day, contempt of God's Word or 
ministers, forgery, bribery, defacing records or landmarks, lying, 
burning or breaking" down fences, gaming, lottery, drunkenness, 
and firing woods. 

The first act in the new code provided " tl-.at no Act, Imposi- 
tit)n. Law or Ordinance be made or im])ose(.l " without the 
approval of the Assembly, council and president. 

All charters and grants of land were confirmed ; the General 
Court were a supreme court of judicature ; law cases were to 
be tried by juries, and inferior courts were constituted at Dover, 
Hampton and Portsmoutl;. 

The military establishment of the Province consisted of one 
company of foot soldiers in each town, one company of artillery 
at the fort, and one troop of horse, all under the command of 
Major Waldron. 

The authorities were especially jealous of their rights and 
resolutely withstood any encroachment of their privileges by 
Randolph, who liad been commissioned collector, surveyor and 
searcher of the customs for all New England. Captain Walter 
Barefoote was the deputy collector at I'ortsmouth. In the exe- 
cution of his commission, Randolph seized a vessel belonging to 
Mark Hunking of Portsmouth, bound from Maryland to Ireland, 
which put into the harbor for a few days. F"or this he was sued 
at a special court and had to pay damages and costs. The dep- 
uty collector was also indicted and fined "for disturbing and 
obstructing his Majesty's subjects in passing from harbor to 
harbor " in requiring that all vessels should be entered and 
cleared with him. 

In December, Ma.son, the claimant, came from England with 



i6So] 



KOVAL. PROVINCE. 



97 



a royal command requiring the council to admit him to a seat on 
the board. Having become a member he commenced to make 
demands, persuading some of the people to take leases of him, 
threatening others, forbidding them to cut firewood and timber, 
asserting his right to the Province, and assuming the title of 
lord-protector. The people became very uneasy, and petitions 
came into the Assembly from every town. At length Mason 
was indicted for an offence which was deemed "an usurpation 
over his Majesty's authority" as established in the Province, but 
escaped arrest by flight to England, in March, 1681, about the 
time of President Cutt's death. Another vacancy was caused 
in the council by the death of Samuel Dalton of Hampton, and 
Richard Waldron, Jr., of Portsmoytn and Anthony Nutter of 
Dover were elected to the office. Richard Waldron was presi- 
dent of the council from the death of Cutt to the arrival of 
Lieut. -Governor Edward Cranfield early in October, 1682. Wal- 
dron died in June, 1689, aged eighty. 

Tax P.vyers in Hampton, in May, 16S0. 



Nathaniel Bachilder. 
Jacob, Tho., Ben., Jon., 

Biowne. 
Nath'I Boulter. Sen. & Jr. 
John Blake. 
Mark Baker. 

* Moses Cocks (Cox). 
Edw. and Sam'l Colcord. 
Joseph and Sam'l Cass. 
Abraham Drake, Sen. and 

Alexander Denham. 
Gershom Elkins. 

* Will, and John Fuller. 
Sam'l Fogg. 

Ben. and Will.* Fifield. 

Sen. 
Henry and Abra. Greene. 
Jon. and Isaac Godfree. 
Edw. Gove. 
Jon. and Jacob Garland. 



James Samuel, Philbrick.* 
Caleb and Jacob Perkins. 
Joseph Palmer. 
' * Henry Roby. 
*Jon. Redman. Sen. and 

;■•■ 

Tho. Row. 

Jon. and Will. Sanborne, 
Sen. 

Richard and Jon. San- 
born. Jr. 

* Ant. and Jon. Taylor. 
Samuel and Daniel Tilton. 
Phillips Towle. 

John Tuck. 

Tho. Thurtten. 

Mr. Andrew Wiggin. 

Mr. Tho. Wiggin. 

Nath'I Weare. 

Tho. Warde. 

Tho. Webster. 

* Between 70 and 90 years. 



Godfre, Thomas, 

Hen. and John Dear- 
born. 

John Hussv. 

Jon., Nehemiah and 

Morris * Hobs, Sen. 

and Jr. 

Tim. Hilyard. 

James Johnson. 

P^rancis Jennis. 

John Knowles. 

Aretus, * Tho. and 
Hizrom Lovitt. 

Daniel Lainprey. 

Samuel Sherborn. 

Benj. and Jos. Swett. 

* Anthony and Jno. 

Stanyen. 

* Robard Smith. 
Jon. Smith, tayler. 
Jon. Smith, cooper. 



98 



IIISTUKV OF Nl:\V IIAMI'SHIKE. 



[1680 



Isaac, Jon. and Epli. 

♦Thomas, Will, "and 

James Marston. 
Henry, Jon., Joseph and 

lienj. Moulton. 
*Jon. Marion. 
Jon. Masson. 
Joseph Mead. 
Tho. Nud. 

' *Abra. and Isaac Perkins. 
Francis and Tho. Page. 
TJio. Philbrook, Jonathan 
Christopher Palmer and 



Jonathan and David 

Wedgwood. 
Ralph Welch. 
Nath'l Wright. 
Tho. Rachel and James 

Chase. 
Abra'm Isaac, Cole. 
Benj. and Tho. Cram. 
Israel. *John Clifford, 

Sen and Jr. 
Elias Crichitt. 
Henry, Jos. and Daniel 

Dow. 



* Tho. Sleeper. 

Jos. and Ben. Shaw. 

Will Swaine. 

Joseph Smith. 

Will Sanborne, Jr. 
Jon. Sleeper. 

George Swete. 
I Samuel Dalton, 
I John Sanborne, 
I Henry Moulten, 
I Nathaniel Weare, 
[ John Smith, 

Selec/men. 



Tax Payers at Exeter, in April, 16S0. 



Imp. Gov. Robt. Wadlee. 
Mr. Moses Gillman. 
Mr. John Thomas. 
Mr. Barthol'w Pipping. 
Mr. Edward Hilton. 
Mr. Sam'l Hilton. 
Mr. Richard Scamon. 
Mr. Wiggin's mill. 
Major Sharpleigh, for Hil- 
ton's mill. 
Major Clark, for his mill. 
Nic. Norris. 
Peter Follsham. 
Christian Dolhoff. 
.Sam'l Leavitt. 
Moses Leavitt. 
David Lawrence. 
John Follsham, Jun. 
Sam. Follsham. 
Ephraim Follsham. 
Nat. Follsham. 
Edward Gillman. 
John Gilman, Jun. 
Cornelius Larey. 



George Jones. 
|ona'n Robinson. 
Jeremy Canaugh. 
Eleazer Elkins. 
Alexander Gorden. 
Robt. Smart. Sen. 
John Young. 
David Robinson. 
Will'm Hilton. 
Sam'l Hall. 
Ralph Hall. 
Kinsley Hall. 
John Sinckler. ^ 
William Moore. 
Phillip Cartey. 
John Wedgewood. 
Henry Magoon. 
Jonathan Thing. 
Joseph Taylor. 
Anthony Goff. 
Charles Gledon. 
Edw'd Sowell. 
Jonathan Smith. 
Samuel Dudley, Jr. 



Robert Stewart. 
*^Huniphrey Wilson. 
Robert Powell. 
Andrew Constable. 
Nic. Listen. 
John Bean. 
Tege Drisco. 
Joell Judkins. 
Ephraim Marston. 
Theop. Dudley. 
Thos. Mekins. 
Biley Dudley. 
Robt. Smart, Jun'r. 
Rich'd Morgan. 
Thos. Tidman. 
John Clark. 
James Kid. 
Nad. Lad. 
Jam?s Perkins, 
f John Gillman, Sen. 
-j Ralph Hall, 
'[ Edw'd Smith, 
Trustees of Exeter* 



CociiECO Tax Payers. 



Major Richard Waldron. 
Left. Peter Coffin. 



Isaac Hanson 
Widow Hanson. 



Rich. Nasson. 
Jno. Ellis. 



ROYAL PROVINCE. 



99 



Jno. Ham. 
Will Horn. 
Zacherie Field. 
Jinkin Jones. 
Tho. liownes, Jr. 
Benjamin Herd. 
Ezekill Winfoid. 
Sam'l Wentworth. 
Elder Wentworth, 
George Ricker. 
Tho. Paine. 
Gorshem Wentworth. 
Jno. Heard. Sen. 
John Heard, Jr. 
Will Harford. 
Stephen Ottis. 
Tho. Hanson. 
Peter Masson. 
Robert Evens. 
Tobias Hanson. 



Jno. Dam, Sen. 
Jno. Cox. 
Jno. Roberts, Sen. 
Tho. Roberts, Jr. 
Widow Tibets. 
Jeremy Tibets. 
Wildrum Dam. 
Abraham Nutt. 
Phillips Cromwell. 
Tho. Whitehouse. 



William Fiirber, .Sen. 
William Furber. Jr. 
Richard Roe, 
Left. Nutter. 
John Dam, Jr. 
John Bickford, Jr. 
Samuel Rawlens. 
James Rawlens. 



Capt. Jno. Gerrish. 
Jonathan Watson. 
Ralph Twomley. 
Tho. Austjn. 
Humphrey Barney. 
Mr. Will. Partridge. 
Tho. Douns, Sen. 
Nathan'l Stephens. 
Jno. Church. 
Mark Goyles. 
Tho. North. 
Mr. John Evens. 
Timothy Hanson. 
Mr. Goft. 
Jno. Frost. 
William Kim. 
James StagpoU. 
Harvey Hobbs. 
Rich. Ottis, Sen. 
Rich. Ottis, Jun. 

Dover Neck Tax Payers 
John Pinkham. 
Will. Willey. 
John Hall, Jr. 
John Hall, Sen. 
John Tiittle. 
Rich. Rich. 
Job. Clements, Esq. 
Joseph Beard. 
Joseph Canie. 
Nathan Hall. 

Bloody Point Tax Payers. 
Iccobad Rawlins. 
Jno. Hudson. 
Widd. Cattor. 
Jno. Bickford, Sen. 
Michael Brown. 
Henr}' Longstof. 
Widd. Trickle. 
Joseph Trickle. 



Rich Seamon. 
Wm. Yerington. 
Jno. Knight. 
Joseph Sanders. 
Maturin Ricker. 
Jno. Windicot. 
Will. GilTord. 
Will. Tasket. 
Jno. Derry. 
James Derry. 
Phillips Chesley. 
Tho. Chesley. 
Jno. Roberts, Jr. 
Nath'l Kene. 
Abraham Clarke. 
Edward Tayler. 
Jno. Michill. 
Edward Eayers. 
Will. Tomson. 
James Hawkins. 

James Nutt, Sen. 
James Nutt, Jr. 
Edward Allin. 
Tho. Perkins. 
Isaac Stokes. 
Tho. Young. 
Thos. Roberts, Sen. 
Mr. Will. Henderson. 
Jno. Cooke. 
John Meader. Jr. 



Isaac Trickie. 
William Shackford. 
Nicholas Harris. 
Joseph Hall. 
Luke Mallune. 
William Gray. 
Benjamin Rawlins. \ 
Eframe Trickie. 



Portsmouth Tax List, Sept., i6Si. 



Jno. Cutt. 
Jno. Dennet. 
Geo. Hunt. 



Jno. Partridge. 
Jno. Fabins. 
George Fabins. 



Robt. Rousley. 
Antho' Elms' Estate. 
Edward Cate. 



lOO 



IlISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



1682 



Mr. Rich. Walden. 

Mr. Otsella Cutt. 

Rich. Watts, and negro. 

Mr. Jno. Huckins. 

Mrs. Elenor Cutts. 

Wm. Ham. 

Rich. Jackson .md sons. 

Wni. Earle. 

Jno. Cotton. 

Ruben Hull. 

Rich. Martyn, Esq. 

Jno. Seward and man. 

Francis Mercer. 

Jno. Hardj. 

Sam'l Case. 

Jno. Frenchman, smith. 

Phil. Several. 

Obad Moss. 

Edward Melcher. 

George Levels & Son. 

Jno. Fletcher. 

Jno. Cutt, mariner and 

man. 
Jno. Tucker and three 

heads. 
Tho. Harvev and man. 
George Snell. 
Sam. Clark. 
Mat. Nelson. 
Tim. i:)avis. 
Jean Jose and Richard. 
Rich. Door. 
Peter Ball. 
Mark Hunckins. 
Rich. Shortridge, 
Lewis Williams. 
Jno. Brown. 
Rob't Pudington. 
Rob't Lang. 
Rich. Waterhouse. 



Jno. Pickering-. 

Wni. Sheller. 

Jno. Jackson, seaman. 

Jno. Bartlet. 

Walter Ell. 

Wm. Pitman. 

Alexander Denet, Jr. 

Wm. Brookin. 

Nat. White. 

Tho. Stevens. 

Rich. Monson. 

Francis Jones. 

Jno. Bandfield 

Phil Tucker. 

Dan. Duggin. 

Ja. Jones. 

Wm. Cotton. 

Neh. Partridge and 2. 

Rich. Webber. 

Tho. Ladbrooke. 

Tho. Jackson. 

Geo. Bramhall. 

Jno. Light. 

Hen. Kerch. 

.Sam'l Whidden. 

Jno. Whidden. 

Tho. Gubbtail. 

Jno. Presson. 

Leo. Drown. 

Wm. Richards. 

Hugh Leer. 

Hen. Savage. 

Wm. Walker. 

Wm. Cate. 
David Griffith. 

Francis Huckins. 
Jno. Jones. 
Joseph Jewell. 
Roland, at Hunt's. 
Anthony Furbur. 



Jno. Shipway. 
Wm. Vaughan, Esq. 
Ja. Treworgie. 
Wm. Williams. 

" Crafts. 
Tho. Gill. 
Tho. Wakan. 
Lodwick Fouler. 
Edward Holland. 
Jno. Seavie. 
Robt. Williams. 
Wm. Mason. 
Mr. Moody, for Mary 

Cutts' land. 
Dan'l Westcot. 
Ephriam Linn. 
Jno. Wakan. 
Jno Baker. 
, Jno. Chevalier & man. 
Wm. Rocklief. 
Nico. Walden. 
Rich, atjno. Tucker's. 
Hubertus Matton. x 
Ditto Journaman. 
Phil Founds. 
Ja. Levet. 
Wm. Roberts. 
Jno. Muchmore. 
Robt. Almonie. 
Tho. Daniel. 
Jno. Jackson, Sen. 
Jno. Jackson, Jr. 
Tho. Pickering. 
Peter Harvey. 

[Signed by ] 
Elias Stileman 
William Vaughan. 
Thom. Daniel. 
Robert Elliot. • 



Cranfield had been commissioned by the King, and instructed 
by the English authorities to sustain the claims of Mason. He 
arrived in New Hampshire in October, 1682, and published his 



p. p., vol. i, 424-2I 



l682] ROYAL PROVINCE. lOI 

commission. His council consisted of Mason, styled proprietor, 
Waldron, Daniel, Vaughan, Martin, Oilman, Stileman and Clem- 
ents, of the old board, and Walter Barefoote and Richard 
Chamberlain. Mason had mortgaged his whole interest in the 
Province to Cranfield, who made no secret of his intention to 
reap a rich harvest. Within a week after his arrival, Waldron 
and Martin were suspended from the council, Cranfield having 
the supreme authority. When the Assembly, which had been 
summoned, met about the middle of November, Waldron and 
Martin were restored to their seats in the council, and conciliation 
was attempted by both parties. The Assembly voted the governor 
^250 and adjourned. At the next session, in January, 1683, 
there was an open rupture. He vetoed the bills of the Assembly 
and they wcfuld not accede to his wishes, so he dissolved them, 
after he had suspended Stileman from the council and from the 
command of the fort. Stileman's offence was in allowing a vessel 
under seizure to go out of the harbor. Barefoote was made cap- 
tain of the fort in his place. The dissolution by the governor of 
the Assembly, a thing before unknown, aggravated the popular 
discontent and secured him the ill-will of the men of New 
Hampshire ; and soon the feeling of resentment rose so high as 
to result in a rebellion. In a report made to the Board of Trade 
by Randolph, there is an account of this rebellion : 

A short time after [the dissolution], one Edward Gove, who served [in the 
Assembly] for the town of Hampton, a leading man and a great stickler for 
the late proceedings of the Assembly, made it his business to stir the people 
up to rebellion by giving out that the governor, as vice-admiral, acted by the 
commission of his royal highness, who was a Papist, and would bring Popery 
in amongst them; that the governor was a pretended governor, and his 
commission was signed in Scotland. He endeavored, with a great deal of 
pains, to make a party, and solicited many of the considerable persons in 
each town to join with him to recover their liberties infringed by his 
Majest_\''s placing a governor over them; furtlier adding that his sword was 
drawn, and he v.ould not lay it down till he knew who should hold the gov- 
ernment. He discoursed at Portsmouth to Mr. Martyn, treasurer, and soon 
after to Captain Hall of Dover, which they discovered to the governoi'. who 
immediately dispatched messengers with warrants to the constable of Exeter 
and Hampton to arrest Gove; and fearing he might get a party too strong 
for the civil power (as indeed it proved, for Justice Weare and a marshal 
were repulsed), the governor forthwith ordered the militia of the whole 



I02 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIKI;. [1683 

Province to be in arms : and understanding by the marshal that Gove could 
not be apprehended at Hampton b_v himself and a constable, but had gone to 
his party at Exeter (from whence he suddenly returned with twelve men 
mounted and armed with swords, pistols, and guns, a trumpet sounding, and 
Gove with his sword drawn riding at the head of them), was taking horse, 
and with a part of the troop intended to take Gove and his companv: but the 
Governor was prevented by a messenger from Hampton, who brought word 
that they were met withal, and taken by the militia of the town, and were 
secured with a guard; the trumpeter forcing his way escaped, after whom 
a hue and cry was sent to all parts, but as yet he is not taken. This rising 
was, unexpectedly to the party, made on the 21st day of January, 16S3. 
It is generally believed that many considerable persons, at whose houses 
Gove either sent or called to come out and stand for their liberties, would have 
joined with him had he not discovered his designs, or appeared in arms at 
that day. For upon the 30th of January being appointed by the governor a 
day of public humiliation, they designed to cut off the governor, Mr. Mason, 
and some others whom they affected not. The governor sent a strong party 
of horse to guard the prisoners, then in irons, from Hampton to Portsmouth. 
Thev were brought before the governor and council and examined, when 
Gove behaved very insolently. 

When arrested, Gove and his companions were put under the 
charge of Captain Walter Barefoote at New Castle, so the record 
quaintly says, " In regarde that ye prison was out of repaire." 
While in custody there, Gove wrQte a letter to the justices who 
were about to try him, and in it he describes his condition. He 
says: "My tears are in my eyes, I can hardly see. * * If 
ever New England had need of a Solomon or David it is now. * * 
We have a hard prison, a good keeper, a hard Captain, irons an 
inch over, five foot seven inches long, two men locked together, 
yet I had, I thank God for it, a very good night's rest." On the 
1 5th of February, 1683, a special court was called to try Gove and 
his comrades, and " after long consideration the jury found Gove 
guilty of high treason, * * and all the rest in arms. * * The 
governor ordered the court to suspend its judgement (on the 
latter ) till His Majesty's pleasure should be known therein ; 
most of them being young men and unacquainted with the law." 
The judge, Richard Waldron, who, it is said, shed tears while 
sentencing Gove, pronounced the dreadful sentence that he 
should be hung, drawn atid quartered, — that being the punish- 
ment for the offence. 



1683] ROYAL PROVINCE. t03 

Most of Gove's companions were pardoned ; and Gove himself, 
after being sent over to England and confined in the Tower for 
some years, was pardoned and sent back to Hampton. There 
is on file in the State Paper Office in England a petition of his 
wife to pardon her husband. She gives as his excuse that he 
was into.xicated at the time, and hints at a streak of insanity 
which ran in his family. After his return to America he lived 
but a short time, and always contended that a slow poison had 
been administered to him in prison. His house, a part of it, 
still stands in Seabrook, and there is growing on the premises a 
pear-tree which it is said he brought from England with him. 
His descendants became Quakers, and some of them still wor- 
ship in the old Quaker meeting-house in Seabrook, which was 
formerly a part of Hampton ; and it is near this old church that 
Gove's remains lie buried. 

Thus ended the first rebellion in New England. It hastened 
Cranfield's removal, but was of little permanent consequence 
compared with that which occasioned the downfall of Sir Edmund 
Andros six years afterward, when Cranfield, Randolph and many 
other supporters of tyranny went down with Sir Edmund. Ran- 
dolph, who had been active in punishing Gove, was himself 
imprisoned in Boston, and wrote many piteous letters to King 
William, asking to be set free.^ 

The governor and the people of the Province could not arrive 
at an amicable adjustment of their conflicting interests. The 
former, as well as Mason, was rash and impetuous, and in deal- 
ing with such sagacious men as Major Waldron, John Wingate 
and Thomas Roberts, three of the principal landowners in 
Dover, they were easily led into the wrong. The governor 
made extravagant threats, but the people were not intimidated. 
They had offered to refer the matter to the King, and their offer 
being refused, they felt that they had justice on their side. On 
some fresh pretence, Waldron, Martin and Gilman were sus- 
pended from the council, and the deaths of Daniel and Clem- 
ents left two other vacancies. Vaughan held his seat the 
longest, but was at last tiirust out. Their places were filled by 

' J. C. Sanborn. 



104 iiiSToKA oi- m;w ha.mfshikk. ['683 

Nathaniel Frye, Robert Elliot, John Hinckes, James Sherlock, 
Francis Champernoon and Edward Randolph, a council made up 
to the governor's satisfaction. The courts were overturned. 
Walter Barefoote, the deputy governor, was judge, Mason was 
chancellor, Chamberlain was clerk, Randolph was attorney- 
general, and Sherlock was provost-marshal and sheriff. Some, 
"awed by threats or flattered by promises," took leases from 
Mason, and served for deputy sheriffs, jurors and witnesses. 
Then followed a multitude of lawsuits, which were not contested 
by the landowners ; and Mason came into possession of most 
of the cultivated land of the Province. No attention was paid 
to legal forms; and as the only redress laid in a direct appeal to 
the King, Nathaniel Weare of Hampton was privately fur- 
nished with petitions and statements, and sailed from Boston 
for England, as the agent for the towns. William Vaughan 
accompanied Weare as far as Boston, and on his return was 
thrown into prison and confined for nine months. In the mean- 
while Cranfield had assumed the whole legislative power, pro- 
hibited vessels from Massachusetts to enter the port, altered 
the value of silver money, changed the bounds of townships, 
sued the former treasurer of the province, and was altogether 
arbitrary and tyrannical. Finding that he could not raise 
money for his wants, he summoned the Assembly in January, 
1684, and demanded that they should pass an act which had 
been approved by the council. They took time to deliberate, 
going from Great Island during the night to Portsmouth 
to consult with Mr. Moodey, and on their return refused to do 
as the governor desired. They were dissolved, and many of 
them were immediately appointed constables, liable to fines for 
not collecting the rates. Moodey became an object of hatred ; 
and an early opportunity was taken to visit the governor's dis- 
pleasure upon him. He was prosecuted as a Non-conformist, 
according to a law in force in England, sentenced to imprison- 
ment, and confined with Major Vaughan at the house of Captain 
Stileman on Great Island for thirteen weeks. Rev. Seaborn 
Cotton of Hampton fled to Boston to escape persecution. Mr. 
Moodey was released from confinement on his promising to 
leave the Province. 



1685] ROYAL PKOViNCE. IO5 

All through the year 1684, disorder ruled in New Hampshire. 
The people united to resist the oppression of Cranfield. His 
marshals and sheriffs were treated to a great variety of abuse. 
They were welcomed with hot water and clubs. One was tied 
to his horse and carried to Salisbury. The militia was called 
out to suppress the riot, but not a trooper appeared. At length 
Cranfield, finding his authority all gone, was forced to desist. 
In the meanwhile Weare had received a hearing in England, 
and the governor was called upon to defend his course. Upon 
receiving the letter from the Board of Trade, he suspended 
Mason's suits till the question concerning the legality of the 
courts should be decided. 

At a hearing in March, 1685, it was decided by the English 
court that Cranfield had exceeded his authority and had not 
pursued his instructions. Having received a leave of absence 
with the report, he gave over the contest, and quietly embarked 
for Jamaica. He was afterwards collector at Barbadoes, and 
died about the year 1 jcx). 

After Cranfield's departure in May, 1685, his authority de- 
volved on Walter Barefoote, deputy governor ; and he and his 
friend Mason, the claimant, had a very uneasy time of it. One 
Thomas Wiggin, in company with Anthony Nutter, a large and 
powerful man, called at Barefoote's house on Great Island, 
where Mason was sojourning. Wiggin took the law into his 
own hands and gave Mason a thrashing. Barefoote interfering, 
received his share of the assault, in which he lost a tooth and 
had two ribs broken. Nutter left his friend to do the whipping, 
while he stood by laughing, and prevented outside interference. 
The authority of the deputy governor was held in as much con- 
tempt as had been that of the gov-ernor. 

Charles II died in February, 1685, and was succeeded by his 
even more arbitrary and tyrannical brother, James II, who 
immediately put in force a new scheme for the government of 
New England. A commission was issued to a president, Joseph 
Dudley, a son of the former governor, Thomas Dudley of Massa- 
chusetts, and to a council, only one member of which, John 
Hinckes, was a resident of New Hampshire, for the governing 



I06 HISTOKV OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1688 

of all New England. The territory was divided into the four 
counties of Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex and Hampshire, and the 
three provinces of Maine, New Hampshire and Narragansett. 
New courts were established. The new form of government 
went into effect in May, 1686; and from the tolerable decency 
with which it commenced operations, the way was paved for the 
appointment of a governor general. At the end of the year Sir 
Edmund Andros, who had been governor of New York, arrived 
at Boston, with a commission appointing him captain-general 
and governor-in-chief of the territory and dominion of New 
England, which was made to include Plymouth colony, with the 
counties and provinces before mentioned. In the council of 
fifteen, besides Hinckes, were Robert Mason and Edward Ran- 
dolph. No Assembly was provided for. Members of the council 
were judges. The governor and any five of the council consti- 
tuted a quorum ; seven were a full board, and were authorized 
to make laws, execute them, and preside as justices. Andros 
commenced his administration with the fairest professions, but 
soon became a tyrant. Those of his council who did not sustain 
him in all his designs were not summoned. Randolph and 
Mason were his confidants. The press was restrained, liberty 
of conscience infringed, and exorbitant fees and taxes de- 
manded. The people had no privilege of representation. Titles 
to land were annulled. Indian deeds were declared " no better 
than the scratch of a bear's paw." New patents were issued, 
covering old grants, as the charter was vacated. The only town 
meeting allowed was for the election of town officers. No per- 
son was permitted to go out of the country without express 
leave from the governor. An appeal to the King was of no 
effect. 

All through the year 1687 and 1688 the people submitted to 
the encroachments of the government. In England, at the 
same time, the people were subjected to like obnoxious laws, 
and were preparing for a change. On the annexation of New 
York to New England, Andros found ready tools for his service, 
and neglected Mason and his clamis. Having received a favor- 
able verdict before the English court of appeal. Mason returned 



i6go] KOVAi. ^R()Vl^•c■I•:. 107 

to New England to take possession of his province, when he 
was met by a new difficulty. The new authorities seemed 
jealous of his increased importance, and would not grant execu- 
tion, or allow that he had the power to i;rant land by leases. 
In the midst of his troubles he dioil, in Jul\-. 1688, leaving his 
claims and lawsuits to his two sons, John and Robert Mason. 

On the news of the landing in England of William Prince of 
Orange reaching Boston, Andros imprisoned the messenger; 
but the people of Massachusetts rose in April, 1689, and seized 
the governor and his accomplice.^, whom they imprisoned, and 
afterward sent as prisoners of State to the old country. The 
magistrates under the old charter, with Bradstreet, the late 
governor, at their head, assumed the name of a Council of 
Safety, and maintained a form of government until orders were 
received from PIngland. 

New Hampshire was left without a government. 

The people of the Province were persuaded by some of the 
leading men to meet in convention and take measures for 
their future government. The following deputies were chosen : 
From Portsmouth, Major William Vaughan, Richard Waldron, 
Nathaniel Fryer, Robert Elliot, Thomas Cobbet and Capt. John 
Pickering ; from Dover, Capt. John Woodman, Capt. John 
Gerrish, John Tuttle, John Roberts, Thomas Edgerly and 
Nicholas P^ollet ; from E.xeter, Robert Wadley, William Moore 
and Samuel Leavitt. Hampton was in sympathy with the move- 
ment, but dissensions arising in town meeting no deputies were 
sent. At an adjourned meeting of the convention in January, 
1690, it was decided to renew their union with Massachusetts 
until the King's pleasure should be known. A petition signed 
t>y 372 " inhabitants and trained soldiers of the Province of 
New Hampshire" was presented to the Massachusetts authori- 
ties, and favorably received. 

This union was the more desired on account of the breaking 
out of what was known as King William's War, and lasted until 
the a])pointment, in 1692, of Governor Samuel Allen and Lieu- 
tenant-Governor John Usher. 



I08 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['^Q- 

Diiring the union, Portsmouth was represented at the Massachusetts Gen- 
eral Court in i6go, 1691 and 1692, by one or two of their delegates, Elias 
Stileman, John Foster, Richard Waldron and Jolin Pickering. The military 
and civil officers of the Province during the union approved by the governor 
and council were: Samuel Penhallow, treasurer; John Pickering, recorder; 
William Vaughan, Richard Martin and Nathaniel Fryer, justices of the peace, 
at Portsmouth : John Gerrish, at Dover : Robert Wadleigh, at Exeter; Major 
William Vaughan, commander of the militarv forces. Of the military company, 
at Dover, John Gerrish was commissioned captain: John Tuttle, lieutenant: 
William Furber, ensign : at Oyster River (Durham), John Woodman, captain ; 
James Davis, lieutenant ; Stephen Jones, ensign : at Portsmouth, Walter 
Neale, captain; John Pickering, lieutenant; Tobias Langdon, ensign: at 
Exeter, William Moore, captain; Samuel Leavitt, lieutenant; Jonathan 
Thing, ensign: at Great Island (New Castle \ Nathaniel Fryer, captain; 
Thomas Cobbet, lieutenant; Shadrach Walton, ensign : at Hampton, Sam- 
uel Sherburne, captain; Edward Gove, lieutenant; John Moulton, ensign. 



CHAPTER V. 

KING WILLIAM'S AND QUEEN ANNE'S WARS, 
1689-1713. 

Causes — St. Castine — Grievances — Richard Waldron's Death — 
Dover — Oyster River — Salmon Falls — Newington — Lamprey 
River — Wheelwright's Pond — Sandy Beach — -Portsmouth — 
Rangers— Durham Massacre — Widow Cutt — Breakfast Hill- 
Return OF Captives — Treatment of Captives — Queen Anne's War 

— Peace at PEMAqiiiD — Eastern Settlements Ravaged — -Hampton 

— Kingston — Removal of Indians to Canada — Dunstable — 
Death of Colonel Winthrop Hilton — Peace — Condition of Par- 
ties. 

•T^HE first Indian war resulted to the advantage of the set- 
tlers. A large proportion of the New England Indians had 
been exterminated. The most stalvirart and the fiercest, who 
survived, nursed their wrath, magnified their grievances, and 
plotted future vengeance. Their anger was increased by artful 
enemies of the English settlers, until the basest treachery and 
demoniac cruelty became a part of their character in their deal- 
ings with the New England colonies. The war became one of 
extermination on both sides. The French made it a little less 
fearful by offering a much larger bounty for captives than for 
scalps. A bounty on scalps was offered also by the colonial 
authorities. In 1689 commenced a contest of races, which, with 
but a brief suspension of hostilities, was destined to be pro- 
longed for a quarter of a century, a generation, and to result 
in the practical dispersion of the aborigines from the whole ter- 
ritory of New England, their former home and hunting ground. 
King William's War was the most disastrous as it was the 
most prolonged of the many contests in which the New Engl- 



I lO HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l689 

and colonists were engaged. It lasted with but an occasional 
truce for ten years, and was the more fierce because to race 
hatred was added religious fanaticism. Besides, the Indians had 
a base of supplies in Canada, and counted on the French as 
allies and confederates. Before the French monarch, Louis 
XIV, had made war on William and Mary, the sovereigns of 
England, in the interest of James II, the dethroned king, An- 
dros, by his overbearing and arbitrary course in New England, 
had prepared the way, before he was driven from ofifice, for a 
general Indian war, the horrors of which were greatly increased 
when war was declared between the home governments of 
France and England. France held all land to the eastward of 
Penobscot river by treaty, and Baron de St. Castine had for 
many years resided on the peninsular of Castine and carried on 
a large trade with the Indians. A new line was run which left 
Castine within English territory, and soon afterward, in 1688, 
Andros went with an armed force and plundered De Castine's 
house and fort. Thereupon the Frenchman, who had the sym- 
pathy and confidence of the Indians to the fullest extent, incited 
them to open hostility. This was the more easily done as they 
had grievances of their own for which they could obtain no 
redress. Their tribute of corn was withheld, seines obstructed 
their fishery, cattle destroyed their crops, and their land was 
granted to settlers without their consent. To this was added 
the fact that they had become Catholics, and considered the 
English as heretics and their natural enemies. War com- 
menced in Maine. Andros led an army of seven hundred men 
into their territory ; but the only loss was sustained by his own 
force, for not an Indian was seen on the march. 

The treachery of Major Waldron, a dozen years before, still 
rankled in the memory of the Cocheco, the Pigwacket, and the 
Penacook tribes. The strage Indians, who had been sold into 
slavery in foreign countries, and had escaped and returned, 
were thirsting for revenge, and formed a confederacy for sur- 
prising the Cocheco settlement and taking vengeance. Their 
plans were carefully matured. Wannalancet, as chief of the 
Penacooks, was succeeded by Hagkins, who had been treated 



16.S9] KING William's wak. i i [ 

with neglect by Cranfiekl and was ready to listen to Castine's 
emissaries. 

Ostensibly they were at peace with the Province, when near 
the last of June, 1689, they assembled in the neighborhood 
of Dover. The veteran magistrate, Richard Waldron, feared no 
treachery. Some of the inhabitants were uneasy on account of 
meeting so many Indians and warned Waldron without effect. 
An official warning was on its way from Boston, but arrived 
too late. There were at the time five garrisoned houses near the 
first falls of the Cocheco river, Waldron's, Otis's and Heard's on 
the north side of the river; Peter Coffin's and his son's on 
the south side. The Indians sent two squaws to each of the 
garrisoned houses in the evening, to ask shelter for the night, and 
they were welcomed at all, except the younger Coffin's, and 
allowed to sleep by the open fire when the family had retired. 
One of the chiefs, Mesandowit, was hospitably entertained by 
Major Waldron the day before, and the squaws told him to 
expect a trading visit from the Indians the following day. 
When all was. quiet, the squaws opened. the gates and admitted 
their confederates. Waldron, on being aroused, sprang from his 
bed and bravely defended himself until he was overpowered 
and cruelly put to death, amid the jibes of his captors. His 
.son-in-law, Abraham Lee, was also killed. The Otis garrison, 
next to Waldron's, shared the same fate. Heard's and Elder 
Wentworth's were accidentally saved. The elder Coffin's was 
surprised, and his son surrendered to save his father; but both 
families escaped while the Indians were plundering the houses. 
Twenty-three people were killed and twenty-nine were carried 
away captives. Five or six houses and the mills were burned, 
and the Indians had departed with their prisoners and booty 
before assistance arrived from other parts of the town. The 
prisoners were carried to Canada and sold to the French ; and 
they were said to have been the first ever carried there. A 
pursuing party, under command of Captain Noyes, destroyed 
the corn of the Indians at Penacook ; and another party, under 
Captain Wincol, killed several Indians at Lake Winnipiseogee, 
and despoiled their fields. 



mSTOKV OI- NKW JIAMl-SlliKE. 



[1690 



In August, the Indians surprised Huckin's garrison at Oyster 
River and killed them all, to the number of eighteen, while at 




work in a field, and took the children, after killing three or four 
of their number, and the women into captivity. 

In 1690, Count de Frontenac, the French governor of Canada, 



iCgs] KING William's war. 113 

entered resolutely into the war and furnished the hostile Indians 
with arms and supplies. He offered a bounty for scalps and 
prisoners. Salmon Falls was attacked in March by a combined 
French and Indian force, and twenty-seven of its brave defenders 
were slain, and fifty-two, mostly women and children, were car- 
ried into captivity. After plundering the place, the houses, mills, 
and barns, together with the stock within them, were burned. 
The assailants were followed on their retreat and an engagement 
ensued, in which four or five of the pursuing party were killed 
and the rest retired. The enemy lost two of their number. 

In May, the Indians made an assault on Fox Point, in New- 
ington, burned several houses, killed fourteen people, and 
retreated with six captives. They were pursued by Captains 
Floyd and Greenleaf, and some of the captives escaped, but the 
Indians made good their retreat. 

In July, the enemy were very active. Within three days they 
killed eight at Lamprey river, eight at Exeter, and sixteen at 
Wheelwright's pond, in Lee, taking only one captive. The loss 
in Exeter was in defending the Hilton garrison house. The 
loss at Wheelwright's pond was in a bloody engagement in which 
Captain Wiswall, Lieutenant Flagg and Sergeant Walker were 
killed. Both parties retreated. Within a week following the 
Indians killed forty people between Lamprey river and Ames- 
bury. Captives, if not healthy and vigorous, were cruelly tortured 
and put out of the way. There were very few instances of 
mercy during the war. In the fall there was a cessation of 
hostilities, which lasted until June, 1691, when two men were 
killed at Exeter. In September, the Indians came from the 
eastward in canoes, landed at Sandy Beach, or Rye, and killed 
or carried away twenty-one persons. Captain Sherburne of 
Portsmouth was killed during the year. 

In 1692, the frontiers were guarded by ranging parties in the 
woods, after the destruction of York ; and the Indians found it 
difificult to surprise a garrison. A party of them near Cocheco 
were themselves surprised and only one of their number escaped. 

Tobias Hanson of Dover was the only victim during the year 
1693, except a poor family captured at Oyster River. A truce 



114 HISTORY OF -NEW HAMPSHIRE. I 1 696 

was agreed upon at Pemaquid in August, and the settlers had a 
respite for the rest of the year. They had become so disheart- 
ened that they were ahnost persuaded to leave the Province. 
To add to their troubles, there was a misunderstanding with the 
Massachusetts authorities, who had been rather occupied with 
witchcraft trials than the prosecution of the war, and assistance 
was sparingly afforded to their neighbors. At length all the 
Massachusetts soldiers were withdrawn. 

After the middle of July, 1694, alongmeditated attack was made 
by two hundred and fifty Indians, led by Sieur de Villieu, upon 
the settlement at Oyster River (Durham). There were block- 
houses for the defence of the inhabitants ; but, not suspecting 
danger, many families were at their own unfortified homes, and 
the garrisons were unprepared for an attack. Of the twelve 
fortified houses five were destroyed. Fourteen people were 
surprised and killed in one. The deserted houses were set on 
fire. Over ninety people were killed or carried into captivity. 
There were many narrow escapes and many scenes of frightful 
cruelty. A French priest accompanied the expedition, which 
was composed of Maine and New Brunswick Indians, from the 
Kennebec, Penobscot and St. John rivers, and French troops. 
Seven of the garrison houses were bravely and successfully de- 
fended. The enemy, having done what mischief they could, 
retired ; and the scalps taken were afterward presented to Count 
Frontenac, in Canada. 

Within a few days a wandering party of Indians killed Madam 
Ursula Cutt, widow of the first president, and three of her 
laborers, while haymaking at a place called the Pulpit. In July, 
1695, two men were killed at Exeter. In May, 1696, John 
Church was killed at Cocheco. Near the end of June the Indians 
came from the Nubble, at York, in canoes, and landed at Sandy 
Beach, or Rye, and made an attack on five houses at once. 
At Sagamore's Creek, in Portsmouth, fourteen people were in- 
stantly killed and four carried into captivity. The whole number 
slain, according to John Farmer, was twenty-four. A pursuing 
party recovered the prisoners at Breakfast Hill, but the Indians 
escaped and eluded a fleet of boats sent to cut off their retreat 



1697] KING William's war. 115 

to the eastward. In July, a party in Dover were waylaid while 
returning from church. Three were killed, three wounded, and 
three carried away captives. In August, one settler was killed 
in Rye and another at Lubberland, on Great Bay. In June, 
1697, an attack was planned on the town of Exeter, which was 
averted by an accident. One person was killed, another wounded, 
and a third carried into captivity. During the year a grand in- 
vasion of the country of New England was planned by the 
French, but was happily postponed until the towns were fortified, 
when peace was declared. A final treaty was made with the 
Indians at Casco early in January, 1699, and many captives 
were restored to their friends. Many of them, however, had 
become members of Indian tribes and did not return to civili- 
zation. 

During the war of ten years the four towns in the province of 
New Hampshire and the adjoining settlements at York, Kittery, 
and Berwick, lost, in killed, wounded and captives, about four 
hundred of their number. The stories narrated by the returning 
captives were full of woe. They had been forced to look upon 
the torture and death of many of their companions, who had 
incurred the ill-will of the savages. They had been forced to 
hasten through a wilderness, without proper food or raiment, 
and had beeen subjected to so many hardships that only the 
most robust and healthy survived. The Indians, from friendly 
neighbors, had become relentless foes. The treachery of Major 
Waldron, from which they had lost faith in the English settlers, 
and the attack of the Mohawks on the peaceably inclined Indians, 
had converted them into fiends incarnate. Nothing seemed too 
horrible for them to imagine and perpetrate. From superstition 
or some other cause they respected the chastity of their female 
captives, but would as ruthlessly murder them as their male 
prisoners. During an incursion made upon Haverhill, in 1697. 
the Indians attacked the house of Hannah Dustin. Her husbauil 
effected the rescue of his children, but the mother fell into the 
hands of the attacking party, who murdered her babe and com- 
pelled her to rise from a bed of sickness, and, with her nurse, to 
follow them towards Canada. During their journey, the party, 



ii6 



HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[1697 

captors and captives, stopped for the night at the small island 
at the mouth of the Contoocook river at Penacook. Here the 
two captive women with the assistance of a boy, planned and 




HANNAH DUSTIN AT THE MASSACRE. 

Upon this spot (the island of Contoocook, N. H.) stands a monument erected to the memory of 
Hannah Dustin, through the efforts of Colonel Robert B. Caverly, poet and historian. 

executed an escape, which was done by killing ten of the twelve 
Indians of the party, and following the river back to the settle- 
ments. As a matter of course, they were forced to take their 



1708] QUEEN ANNe's WAR. II7 

captors at a disadvantage, killing them while they were asleep, 
and possibly drunk. 

The peace of Ryswick, which closed King William's War, was 
of short duration. Louis XIV proclaimed the Pretender king 
of England, and his governor, Villebon, had orders to extend the 
Province of Acadia to the Kennebec river. The English claimed 
to the St. Croi.x river. Governor Dudley had particular orders 
to rebuild the port at Pemaquid, but the Massachusetts Assembly 
would not consent to the expense. He met at Casco delegates 
from the tribes of the Norridgewock, Penobscot, Pigwacket, 
Penacook and Androscoggin Indians, and concluded a firm peace 
with them in June, 1703. This did not prevent the Indians, 
however, after the declaration of the Queen Anne War, from join- 
ing the French and invading New England. They killed and 
took captive one hundred and thirty people betvi'een Casco and 
Wells in a few weeks, burning and destroying all before them. 
About the middle of August a force of thirty killed five people at 
Hampton, a Quakeress among the number, and plundered two 
houses; but fled before a pursuing party. Instantly the whole 
frontier was in arms. A visit of a company to Pigwacket in the 
fall led to the death of six and the capture of six Indians. During 
the winter the settlers were very active in carrying the war into the 
enemy's country, under the command of Major Winthrop Hilton 
and Captains John Gilman of Exeter, and Chesley and Davis of 
Oyster Rixer. 

During the year 1704 the aggressive policy of New England 
was continued, yet the Indians succeeded in killing and captur- 
ing several people in the Province, one at Oyster River in April, 
and several at Lamprey River the next day. In August they 
killed several at Oyster River. In January, 1708, Colonel Hilton 
led a force against Norridgewock, which was only successful in 
destroying the village. During the year another attempt was 
made to settle the township of Kingston, which did not succeed. 
Amongst the settlers were Ebenezer Webster, an ancestor of 
Daniel Webster, Moses Elkins, Jonathan Sanborn, Ichaboti 
Robie, Aaron Sleeper, Thomas Webster, Thomas Philbrick and 



Il8 HISTOKV (IF XEW HAMPSHIRE. [l/OQ 

Jabez Colman. The first birth in the town was that of Benjamin 
Webster, in 1701. In 1725 the town contained eighty-one fami- 
lies. In 1732, it liad one hundred and sixty-four ratable inhabi- 
tants and one hundred and fifteen dwelling houses, of which 
sixty-four were two stories high. 

An attempt was made to settle Rev. William Thompson in 
1720. Rev, Ward Clark was ordained and settled in 1725 ; Rev. 
Peter Coffin, in 1737; Rev. Amos Tappan, in 1762; Rev. Elihu 
Thayer, D. U., in 1776 ; Rev. John Turner, the last minister 
settled by the town, in 18 18. 

The Indians of New England had been encouraged to remove 
to Canada by the French governor, and accordingly had been 
incorporated with the St. Francis tribe on the St. Lawrence and 
were thus more readily wielded against the English. At the re- 
opening of hostilities, in 1706, after a short truce, a small party 
of Indians attacked the house of John Drew, at Oyster River, in 
April, and killed eight and wounded two ; but the women suc- 
cessfully defended the place. On the retreat of the Indians 
they killed John Wheeler, his wife and two children, who fell 
into their hands. In June two men were killed in Dover. In 
July two men were killed at Dunstable. In August an attack 
was made on Dover, in which ten men lost their lives or were 
carried into captivity. The Indians also killed several others 
during the summer at Dunstable, Hampton, and along the fron- 
tier. During the winter of 1707, Colonel Hilton was successful 
in cutting off a party of twenty-two, near Black Point, in Maine. 
During the following summer, while a force of a thousand men 
were attacking Port Royal, a harassing warfare was kept up by 
the enemy along the frontier and several men were killed at Oyster 
River, at Kingston, and at Exeter. The Indians were accustomed 
at this time to wander in small parties and the settlers were 
always armed and generally within the protection of their block- 
houses. In September, a lumbering party was surprised at 
Oyster River by a party of French Mohawks and eight of their 
number were instantly killed. 

New Hampshire escaped any loss during the year 1708, l^ut in 
the spring of 1709 several men were captured in E.\cter, and one 



iyi^\ QUEEN ANNE's WAR. 1 19 

was killed at Oyster River. One of the Exeter captives was in- 
humanly tortured. During the year an expedition was planned 
against Canada, but was not carried into effect. 

In July, 1710, the Indians, who had before made several at- 
tempts, succeeded in killing Colonel Winthrop Hilton. Two of 
his companions were killed at the same time, and two others were 
captured. Colonel Hilton was the son of Edward Hilton and Ann 
(Dudley) Hilton. Edward Hilton was the son of Edward 
Hilton, the first settler of Dover. Ann Dudley, Colonel 
Hilton's mother, was the daughter of Rev. Samuel and Mary' 
(Winthrop) Dudley, and was the granddaughter of Governor 
Thomas Dudley and Governor John Winthrop. His loss was 
severely felt in the Province, and he was buried with military 
honors. Soon after the attack on Hilton's party, the Indians 
killed or took captive several persons at Exeter, four at Kingston 
and one at Cocheco. During the summer Colonel Shadrack 
Walton led the New Hampshire quota of one hundred men to 
help capture Port Royal. Late in the fail he led a force to the 
eastward, and slew several hostile Indians. In the spring of 
171 1 five men were killed at Dover, and a party returning from 
church fell into an ambush. During the summer a formidable 
expedition of some six thousand troops were sent to reduce 
Canada, but lost a thousand of their number in the St. Lawrence 
river during a stormy night, and the balance of the fleet returned 
to Boston. 

The Indians, encouraged by the failure of this attack, com- 
menced their aggressions in the spring of 17 12, killing a settler 
in Exeter, another at Dover, and another at Oyster River. A 
marauding party of eight Indians were surprised and killed on 
the Merrimack. During June and July the enemy attacked the 
settlers at Exeter, Kingston and Dover, and caused some loss of 
life. In the autumn the news of the peace of Utrecht was 
received and a suspension of arms was proclaimed at Ports- 
mouth. In July, 171 3, a formal treaty of peace was made with 
the Indians, and an exchange of prisoners was brought about 
the next summer. During the whole war, Usher was a faithful 
officer. He frequently came into the province by Dudley's 



I20 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['7 '3 

direction, and sometimes resided in it several months, inquiring 
into the state of the frontiers and garrisons, visiting them in 
person, and consulting with the officers of the militia as to the 
proper methods of defence. 

The drain of the war had been fearful on the little province 
of New Hampshire, still it was more than offset by the large 
families and the natural increase within the colony. It had 
bred a race of men skilled as the Indian in the arts of wood- 
craft and the peculiar stratagems of Indian warfare. Children 
had been reared amidst the alarms of the dread war-whoop and 
the whistle of the hostile bullet. Boys were trained as soldiers 
at an early age, and even the women, on occasion, successfully 
defended their homes from the prowling savages. Hannah 
Dustin is a typical heroine of that era. After such a school 
those boys could never wear the yoke of servitude. Henceforth 
they were freemen. 

The Indians, on the other hand, suffered from war and famine. 
Sleuth hounds, for the sake of the reward or to revenge the 
massacre of a family, in the shape of desperate man-hunters, 
rangers and scouts, were continually on their trail and diminish- 
ing their numbers. In endurance the white man was their superior 
and was bound to be the victor in the end. 




-s<; 



CHAPTER VI. 

ROYAL PROVINCE, 1692-1715. 

Samuel Allen — John Usher — New Council — Small Pox — Post 
Office • — New Castle Incorporated — Kingston Incorporated — 
William Partridge — PiscATAquA Rebellion — ,Earl of Bellomont 
— Governor Allen — John Usher — Mutilation of Records — New 
Trial of Claim — Appeal to King — Joseph Dudley — Decision 
OF English Courts — Nashua — Offers of Compromise — Death of 
Allen — Renewal of Suit — New Trial — Death of Thomas Allen — 
Hampton Falls — Newington. 



T' 



*HE administration of John Usher, as lieutenant-governor, 
representing his father-in-law, Samuel Allen, and Gover- 
nor Joseph Dudley, was at a time the most mournful in the his- 
tory of the Province or the State, and the most illy suited for 
the establishment of claims to lands which were occupied by 
people defending them from a savage foe, and exciting sympa- 
thy in the minds of home and foreign judges by their bravery 
and sacrifices. According to the common law of England, 
Allen was undoubtedly right. The discovery and occupation of 
a vast continent, however, brought different elements into the 
legal questions involved. The right of even a prince to grant 
land to the exclusion of actual settlers in long and undisturbed 
possession is seriously questioned. When to the difficulties of 
the case is added the purchase of the territory from its un- 
doubted owners, the Indians, and thereafter the maintaining the 
possession by right of conquest, one's sympathy must lean towards 
the settlers. In a foreign war, it is the patriotic duty of a citi- 
zen to sustain his government, right or wrong ; but even in that 
cise, when it becomes a matter of history, he may question the 
justice and equity of the course pursued by the public or the 
State. 



HISTORY Of NEW lIAMPSillRE. 



[1692 



In the midst of the Indian war, the Province of New Hamp- 
shire was placed under a new government. The people desired 
for the most part to continue their union with Massachusetts, 
but Samuel Allen of London, who had purchased the interest 
of the heirs of Mason to New Hampshire, claimed recognition 
of his title from the crown, and a commission for the govern- 
ment of the province. A petition from the people for a union 
with Massachusetts was neglected, and the power of govern- 



^^_ 




^(. 3e\vL 



n\exsc^ 



ment was conferred upon Allen. His son-in-law, John Usher, 
was appointed lieutenant-governor in his absence. The coun- 
cillors named in the commission were John Usher, John Hinckes, 
Nathaniel Fryer, Thomas Graffort, Peter Coffin, Henry Greene, 
Robert Elliot, John Gerrish, John Walford and John Love. 
To these were afterwards added Major Vaughan, Nathaniel 
Weare and Richard Waldron. 

The lately appointed lieutenant-governor arrived and pub- 
lished his commission in August, 1692. His council were gen- 
erally men who had the confidence and good will of the people, 
but Usher himself was unpopular on account of his connection 



1692] 



KOVAL PRO\lNXE. 



with the government under Andros and his interest in Allen's 
claim to the lands. He was a native of Boston, a tradesman 
of considerable wealth, and had successfully conducted the 




\/^^^m^.Ff^^^i^' ' ^ 



^m.4^m. 



negotiations on the part of Massachusetts for the purchase 
from Gorges of the Province of Maine. He had been treasurer 
in the government of Sir Edmund Andros, and was largely 



124 



mSTOKV OF NEW HAMI'SHIKE. 



:i692 



interested in land speculation. He was good-natured, open, 
and generous ; but no statesman or courtier. He was not affa- 




fj«.w-(ast!e. i 



ble, but rather stern and severe. He prided himself on his 
authority, was consequential and dictatorial, but fairly gov- 
erned durinsr the Indian ti"oublcs. 



1692] KOVAI. I'KOVINCE. 1 25 

During the year 1692, besides the terror of the Indian war, 
a very fatal epidemic of small pox raged at Portsmouth and 
Greenland. 

In 1793 the first post-office in the Province was established at 
Portsmouth. During the same year Great Island, Sandy Beach 
(Rye), and Little Harbor were incorporated as the town of 
New Castle. Great Island had been a place of considerable 
importance. During Cranfield's administration it was the seat 
of government. It was afterwards reduced in size by the incor- 
poration of Rye, until to-day, with an area of only 458 acres, it 
is the smallest township in the State. It was the home in later 
years of Theodore Atkinson, chief justice of the Province. 

Rev. Samuel Moody preached at New Castle before 1700 ; Rev. 
John Emerson was ordained in 1704; Rev. William Shurtleff, 
in 1712; Rev. John Blunt, in 1732 ; Rev. David Robinson, in 
1748; Rev. Stephen Chase, in 1750; Rev. Oliver Noble, in 
1784. 

1 What was the population of New Castle at the date of its 
charter, it is quite impossible to determine accurately. On one 
occasion forty men signed a petition, which list included none 
of the government officials. It is probable that, in 1693, there 
were within the whole territory of this town not far from five 
hundred inhabitants. 

The records of the town from 1693 to 1726 were lost for 
many years, and were not recovered until 1873, when they were 
found in the hands of a private gentleman of England, who pre- 
sented them to the town authorities. 

The following description of a New Hampshire town meeting- 
is taken from Mr. Albee's readable History of New Castle : 

In general, it may be said that it is an occasion when some public busi- 
ness is transacted, of the necessary sort, and the year's accumulation of 
criticism, grievances, and personal grudges be discharged. In New Castle 
we deliberate with our hats on, after the manner of the British. Parliament. 
We always think there is time enough to take them off when we go to bed. 
No sooner is a new town government elected than it begins to be watched 
and found fault with. Then appears that almost natural impulse of our race, 
or. perhaps, inherited in its long contests for freedom, which impels it to 

■ John .\;bcc. 



126 



HISTOKV OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[1693 



consider its civil rulers natural enemies. In town governments this watch- 
fulness and criticism are not always an unmi.\ed good ; the j often become 
frivolous, and turn on personal or partv sympathies and antipathies. 

" How can I find my family history .'" said a gentleman to a genealogist- 
"Simply by running for an office," was the answer. The selectmen are 
seated behind a long table, on which are the records, the account books and 
papers, and a law book or two — the town officer, perhaps, and the statutes 
of the State. They look nervous, but defiant. Indeed, it does put a man on 
his mettle to face a body of citizens to whom he is directly accountable. 
Before the selectmen stand their fellow citizens — perhaps fifty, perhaps two 
hundred — ready to listen to the report of the year's transactions; read v. 
also, to put the most provoking questions. The town methods of conducting 
business are clumsy, absurd, informal ; the manners of the meeting rough ^ 
now violent, now indifferent; matters proceed confusedly; but the ends 
attained are the pride of our civilization, — equitable taxation, safe roads and 
bridges, care of the poor, public order, and equal and sufficient education 
for all. 

There was a period in the history of all New England towns when thev 
had the care of religion. 

That the ancient town meetings were much like the modern, is evident 
from careful reading of the records. It is clear enough when matters are in 
contention ; it is clear what is of public interest from year to year. 

The first town clerk of New Castle, by election, was Theodore Atkinson. 





Below is the seal of Richard Jose, sheriff of the Province and town, in the 
seventeenth century. 




There was a regular night watch for all parts of the town ; and every night 
the constable, with four men of the watch, visited all public houses to 
enforce the regulations concerning them. No strangers were allowed in 
New Castle above fourteen davs, without notice to the selectmen. Whoever 



1 693] 



ROVAL PROVINCE. 



127 



sold liquor to a common drunkard was liable to fine; and the selectmen gave 

to the innkeeper the names of persons to whom they were forbidden to sell. 

The selectmen, in early times, met monthly to attend to any business 




brought before the board. They also sat as judges, deciding trivial matters 
appertaining to the community. 

Sampson Sheafe, a graduate of Harvard College, was the first schoolmaster 
Among the inhabitants of New Castle for two centuries, appear the names 



128 HISTOKV OF M-.W HAMFSHIKE. [1694 

of Amazeen, Bell, Frost, Lear. Meloon, Tarlton, Vennard, White and 
Yeaton. Here have lived those of the name of Atkinson. Elliot, Estwick, 
Frver, Hinckes, Jackson, JaftVev, Jones, Jordan, Langmaid, Leach, Odiorne, 
Parker, Rand, Randall, -Seavv, Slileman, Trefethen, Tucker, Waldron, Wal- 
ford, Wallis, Walton, Sargent, and Prescott. 

The following year, 1694, an attempt was made to extend the 
settlements, and the township of Kmgston was granted to a 
party of twent}' men from Hampton and the town was incorpo- 
rated ; but within two years the settlers deserted the place and 
did not return until peace was declared in 1799. 

Grantees of Kingston. 

James Prescott. Sen. Benjamin Sanborn. John Mason. 

Thomas Philbrook. Jr. Daniel Moiilton. Nathaniel Sanborn. 

Samuel Colcord. Isaac Godfrev. John Moulton. 

Samuel Dearborn. Gershom Elkins. Francis Towle. 

Jacob Garland. Thomas Webster. 

Ebenezer Webster. William Godfrey. 

During the two or three first years of Usher's administration 
the public charges were provided for by an excise on wines and 
liquors and a tax on merchandize, the Assembly voting them year 
by year. During the year i6-)5 the deputies became unmanage- 
able and refused to grant money, except for the defence of the 
Province. Nor could Usher obtain money from Allen, the pro- 
prietor of the Province, for his drafts were dishonored. He de- 
sired Governor Allen to take the government into his own hands 
or find a successor to himself. The people, however, had antici- 
pated him, for having removed Hinckes, Waldron and Vaughan 
from the council, on account of their opposition of the proprie- 
tary claim, he so irritated the leading men of the Province that 
they conspired for his removal, and privately recommended Wil- 
liam Partridge as his successor as lieutenant-governor. " Part- 
ridge was a native of Portsmouth, a shipwright, of extraordinary 
mechanical genius, of a politic turn of mind, and a popular 
man." ^ He was treasurer of the Province, largely concerned in 
trade, well known in England as a dealer in masts and timber for 
the navy, and he received his commission as lieutenant-governor 



1696] ROYAL I'KOVINXE. I29 

in June, i6g6. He returned to New ICnglaiid and assumed the 
duties of office in January, 1697, and the suspended councillors 
resumed their seats. John Pickering, "a man of rough and ad- 
venturous spirit, and a lawyer," was made King's attorney, and 
the records which Usher had compelled him to deliver up were 
deposited in the hands of Major Vaughan, who was appointed 
recorder. 

Usher, who resided in Boston, claimed these acts to be illegal, 
and sent his secretary, Charles Story, to England, with an 
account of what he styled the " Piscataqua rebellion ;" and re- 
ceived directions from the English authorities to keep his office 
of lieutenant-governor until Partridge was legally "qualified." 
He was frustrated in his designs, for Partridge went through 
the required forms and duly " qualified " himself the day after 
Usher arrived in Portsmouth with his commission, in December, 
1697. 

The Assembly met early in January, 1698, and approved what 
had been done, and sent Ichabod Plaisted to meet the Earl of 
Bellomont, the newly-appointed governor of New England, upon 
his arrival in New York. During the year. Governor Allen, a 
man " of a pacific and condescending disposition," came from 
England, and, as his commission was still in force, took the oaths 
and assumed the command. Usher was reinstated in the coun- 
cil. Partridge was suspended, and an altercation ensued between 
the governor on the one part and the council and the Assembly 
on the other. Elliot withdrew, and was soon followed by Coffin 
and Waldron ; the Assembly refused to appropriate money ; and 
the governor dissolved them. Fryer, of the old board, alone re- 
mained in the council. Joseph Smith of Hampton and Kingsley 
Hall of Exeter were appointed to the council, and Sampson 
Sheafe, the secretary, and Peter Weare, made up a quorum. 

In the summer of 1699, the new governor-general, the Earl of 
Bellomont, "a nobleman of distinguished figure and polite man- 
ner, a firm friend to the revolution, a favorite of King William, 
and one who had no interest in oppressing them," published his 
commission in New Hampshire, to the great joy of the people. 
Upon the change in rulers. Partridge took his seat as lieutenant- 



130 inSTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['701 

governor, and the displaced councillors were again called to the 
board. Richard Jose was made sheriff in place of William 
Ardell, and Charles Story secretary in the room of Sheafe. 

Peace within and without the Province having been tempora- 
rily restored, and the government modelled in favor of the peo- 
ple, both parties in the land suits agreed to leave the decision to 
properly constituted courts. The Assembly having voted Bello- 
mont ;^500, he left the Province within three weeks to the gov- 
ernment of his lieutenant-governor, Partridge. Partridge ap- 
pointed Hinckes chief justice and Peter Coffin, John Gerrish, 
and John Plaisted assistants ; and Waldron chief justice of the 
inferior court, with Henry Dow, Theodore Atkinson, and John 
Woodman, for assistants. 

During the summer of 1700, Colonel Romer, a Dutch engineer 
under Bellomont's direction, planned a fortification for the harbor 
to cost ;^6,ooo, but the Assembly pleaded their poverty as an 
excuse for not building it. In the mean while, Allen saw very 
little chance for him to recover his rights under the new courts 
as then constituted. The records of the superior court having 
been mutilated, all evidence of judgments recovered by Mason 
were lost and suits had to be commenced from the beginning. 
Waldron, one of the principal land-holders, and a strenuous 
opposer of the proprietary claim, was singled out to stand 
foremost in the controversy with Allen, as his father had with 
Mason. The decisions were invariably given in favor of the 
defendant with costs. "Allen's only refuge was in an appeal to 
the King, which the courts, following the example of their 
brethren in Massachusetts, refused to admit." He then petiti- 
oned the King, who granted an appeal, and censured the court for 
not permitting it. 

During the year 1701, Bellomont died in New York; and the 
Assembly confirmed the grants of land within their townships 
and ordered their township lines to be determined. But Allen 
prevented the laws being enacted and sent Usher to England 
to attend to his appeal before the English courts. 

King William having died. Queen Anne, his successor, ap- 
pointed Joseph Dudley, a former president of New England, to 



1702] KOVAL PROVINCE. I3I 

be governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and his 
commission was published in Portsmouth in July, 1702. The 
Assembly, by a well-timed present, interested him in their favor; 
but Usher was successful before the Queen, and not only won 
Allen's case, but secured tor himself the appointment of lieu- 
tenant-governor of the Province, against the protest of Waklron, 
who represented the people of New Hampshire. 

In 1703 the attorney-general of the English court reported 
that Allen's claim to the waste land of the Province of New 
Hampshire was valid, and late in the year Usher published his 
commission in Portsmouth. 

" 'During the year of 1702 the colonial court of Massa- 
chusetts built a trading-house for the Indians, and established a 
fortified garrison at Watanic — the Indian name for Nashua — 
which was afterwards called Queen's garrison, and situated about 
sixty rods easterly of Main street, in Nashua, and about as far 
north of Salmon brook. This was the head-quarters of trade 
with the Indians for many years. 

If we consider the appearance and extent of the primitive 
forests, in the midst of natural scenes like these, it is not sur- 
prising that these bold pioneers should select a place like this in 
which to rear their log huts ; for, as Governor Wentworth said, 
the royal or mast pines of Dunstable plains were the best in 
New Hampshire ; and they presented a majestic appearance. 
These trees often grew to the height of two hundred feet, and 
as straight as an arrow, many of them forty inches in diameter. 
These pines were, by royal enactment, reserved for the king's 
navy, and were designated by the surveyors of the woods by a 
mark made to represent an Indian arrow, and the owners of the 
land were forbidden to cut them. 

The town of Greenland was set off from Portsmouth in 1705, 
and incorporated as a parish in 1706. There were at the time about 
320 inhabitants. Settlements had commenced within the terri- 
tory many years before ; and men, women and children had been 
accustomed to walk si.x and eight miles to attend services and 
meetings at Portsmouth. Rev. William Allen was ordained and 



132 



HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



.1704 



settled as their minister in 1707 ; Rev. Samuel McClintock, D.D., 
in 1756; Rev. James Neal, in 1805; Rev. Ephraim Abbott, in 
1813; Rev. Samuel W. Clark, in 1829; Rev. Edwin Holt, in 
1848; Rev. Edward Robie, in 1852. 



John Allen. 
Daniel Allen. 
Joseph Berry- 
Nathaniel Berry. 
James Berry- 
Robert Bryant, Ji 
John Bryant. 
John Cate. 
Samuel Davis. 
Daniel Davis. 
John Docom. 
Robert Goss. 



Inh.\hitants of Greenl.\nd 
William Haines. 
Matthew Haines. 
William Hodge. 
Nathaniel Hugen. 
Ebenezer Johnson. 
John Johnson. 
Nathan Johnson. 
James Johnson. 
Sarah Jackson. ■] 
Jatncs March. 
Israel March. 
Samuel Neal. 



IN' 1714- 
John Neal. 
Thomas Perkins. 
Thomas Packer. 
Joshua Peirce. 
John Philbrook. 
John Philbrook. 
Benjamin Skilan. 
Nathaniel Watson. 
Joshua Weeks. 
Jonathan Weeks. 
Joseph Weeks. 
Samuel Weeks. 



The year 1704 was remarkable for the renewal of the Indian 
■war and dissensions between the lieutenant-governor and his 
council and the Assembly. The recorder refused to deliver the 
records to Penhallow, the secretary, without a vote of the Assem- 
bly. The latter appropriated thirty-eight shillings towards 
Usher's support, and voted him the use of two rooms at New 
Castle, — a rather meagre allowance, considering the wealth and 
state of the lieutenant governor. The decision of the English 
courts having been communicated to the Assembly by Gover- 
nor Dudley, they signified their consent to the proprietor's claim 
to the waste lands of the Province, but asserted that he had 
gone beyond his rights in taking possession of the commons 
within the incorporated township. In fact, Allen had served 
legal papers upon Waldron, and urged the governor's presence 
to enforce the Queen's decree ; but Dudley was attacked by a 
seasonable fit of sickness at Newbury, which prevented his 
attendance at court. At length, fairly worn out by the contro- 
versy with such determined adversaries, Allen made advan- 
tageous offers of compromise, in 1705, accepting for himself a 
tract forty miles long and twenty miles wide, at the head of the 
old township, and reasonably large farms in each of the settled 



1715] ROYAL PROVINCE. 1 33 

towns ami ^2,000 in cash, while he released all title to the bal- 
ance of the territory of the province. Death again prevented 
this happy arrangement, for Samuel Allen died in May, 1705, 
the day after the necessary papers were to have been signed. 
He was " a gentleman of no remarkable abilities, and of a soli- 
tary rather than a social disposition ; but mild, obliging, and 
charitable. His character as a merchant was fair and upright, 
and his domestic deportment amiable and exemplary. He was 
a member of the Church of England, but attended the Congre- 
gational services at New Castle." He died in his seventieth 
year, leaving one son and four daughters. 

The year after his death, his son, Thomas Allen of London, 
renewed the suit in the inferior court of the Province, in 1706, 
and was defeated. On an appeal to the superior court, in 1707, 
he was again defeated. This was the most celebrated trial of 
the case. James Menzies and John Valentine appeared for the 
proprietor and John Pickering and Charles Story for the de- 
fence. The jury paid no attention to the Queen's directions, 
and the case was again appealed to the English courts. Then, 
on the account of the loyalty of the people, and their sufferings 
during the war, no decision was arrived at until the case was 
abruptly closed by the death of Allen, in 1715. 

Hampton Falls, originally a part of Hampton, set off in 1709, 
was incorporated in 171 2, when Rev. Theophilus Cotton was 
settled as the minister. He was succeeded in 1727 by Rev. 
Joseph Whipple; in 1757, by Rev. Josiah Bayley ; in 1763, by 
Rev. Paine Wingate; in 1781, by Rev. Samuel Langdon, D. D., 
for several years president of Harvard College ; in 1798, by 
Rev. Jacob Abbott, the last Congregational minister, who was 
dismissed in 1827. 

Petitioners for Incorpor.\tiox of Hampton FAfeLs. 

John Brown. Jonathan Fifield. Robert Reed. 

William Brown. Jonathan Filbrook John Swavn. 

Israel Black. John French. Caleb Swavn. 

Nath. Bacheler. John Gove. Joseph Sweet, Jr. 

Benj. Bacheler. Ebenezer Gove. Jacob Stanyan. 1 

Moses Blake. Isaac Green. John Sanborn. 

Philemon Blake. Nathan Green. Wm. Sanb.orn. 



134 



IIISTOKV OF Xi:\V HAMPSHIRE 



LI7I6 



Tiinolliy Blake. 
John Cass. 
Joseph Cass. 
John Cram. 
John Cram. 
Thomas Cram. 
Benjamin Cram. 
Zachariah Clifford. 
Israel Clifford, Jr. 
Jacob Clifford. 
John Drown. 
John Eaton. 
Jo.seph Emons. 
Benjamin Fifield. 



Ephraini Hoit. 
Timothy Hutchins. 
Benj. rnilyard. 
Saml. Ilealy, 
Nehemiah Heath. 
John Morginn. 
Saml. Melcher. 
Bonos Norton. 
Benj. Perkins. 
Caleb Perkins. 
Jonathan Prescott. 
Nath. Prescott. 
James Prescott. Sen. 
Thos. Philbrook. 



Joseph Swett. 
Samuel Shaw. 
Caleb Shaw, 
Joseph Sanborn. 
Enoch Sanborn. 
William Shipperd. 
Joseph Tilton. 
Daniel Tilton. 
Jethro Tilton. 
David Tilton. 
Peter Weare. 
Nathl. Weare. 
Nathl. Weare, Jr. 
Edward Wilkins. 



During' all these years of war, John Usher continued in his 
office of lieutenant-governor. " His austere and ungracious 
manners, and the interest he had in Allen's claim, prevented 
him from acquiring that popularity which he seems to have 
deserved." What was most remarkable, he had to serve for the 
honor of the office without any of the emoluments. His prede- 
cessor had been liberally paid, but even the great popularity of 
Dudley could not induce the Assembly to give Usher a salary. 
Their first allowance to him was less than £^2 for travelling 
expenses from Boston, which amount they increased to ^5, and 
in a fit of generosity, at Dudley's suggestion, they again in- 
creased it to ^10. They also provided him with quarters on 
Great Island, which he complained of as not fit for his servants. 
Upon his retiring from office, in 17 15, he returned to Medford, 
where he lived in state for nearly a dozen years, dying at the 
age of seventy-eight years. 

He was succeeded in office by George Vaughan, in October, 
171 5. Governor Dudley had become very popular. His salar\' 
was freely appropriated, and petitions were sent to the Queen 
to keep him in office; but he was superseded in October, 1716, 
by Samuel Shute. 

With the departure of Usher and the death of .-Mien, the 
Masonian claim was taken from the courts for the last time, but 
in ano'.her generation it was destined to aiise and trouble 
people in another way for many years to come. 



I7I4] 



ROYAL PROVINCE. 



I3S 



Newington was named, in 17 14, by Governor Dudley, and had 
already been incorporated as a parish. It included the disputed 
territory called Bloody Point, which, in 1644, had contained 
twelve families. The settlers at that time were : James John- 
son, Thomas Canning, Henry Longstaff, Thomas Fursen, John 
Fayes, William Frayser, Oliver Trimings, William Jones, Philip 
Lewis, Thomas Trickey, John Goddard and one other. It had 
town privileges as early as 1737. Rev. Joseph Adams was 
ordained and settled in the town in 1715, and was followed, in. 
1795, by Rev. James Langdon, the last settled Congregational' 
minister. 




CHAPTER VII. 
ROYAL PROVINCE, 17 15 -1722. 

TxTRODUCTioN — George Vaughan — Samuel Shute — John Wcntworth 
— Commerce — Tuo-Mile Slip — Scotch- Irish — Londonderry — Early 
Settlers — Chester. 

"pEACE having been assured, by a treaty with the French and 
Indians, from 1715 to 1722 the Province took rapid strides in 
the line of progress. Commerce was fostered, and settlements 
were rapidly advanced upon hitherto ungranted lands. The 
power of the Indians had been broken by repeated contests, 
and only a few of them remained, scattered over the Province, 
to impede the advance of settlers. The rights of the proprietors, 
under the Masonian grant, had fallen into the hands of minors, 
or non-resident claimants, and were not very definite. From 
repeated suits the representatives of the claim had come to 
realize that the people of" the Province would never submit to 
hold their lands as tenants under a landlord. The claimants 
watched the progress of events, but could not control them. 

Up to this time the settlements had been confined to a narrow 
territory bordering upon the ocean and Great Bay. On account 
of the uncertainty of title, the inland valleys and meadows had 
not been occupied. Within ten yeajrs, the frontiers were advanced 
nearly fifty miles into the interior. 

George Vaughan, the lieutenant-governor, who superseded 
John Usher, arrived in the Province and opened his commission 
in October, 1715. After his arrival, Governor Dudley, daily ex- 
pecting his successor, did not come into New Hampshire, but left 
the government to Vaughan. George Vaughan was the son of 
Major William Vaughan and received the office as a recognition 



171 7] KOVAL PROVINCE. I37 

of the services of his father, who had suffered financially and 
physically in defending the colonists from the rapacity of the pro- 
prietors. Lieutenant-Governor Vaiighan held the office of chief 
magistrate one year before the arrival, in October, 171 7, of 
Governor Samuel Shute. He summoned the Assembh-, who re- 
fused to make appropriations for a longer time than one year, 
whereupon he dissolved them. 

Samuel Shute, governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 
made several changes in the council upon his arrival in Ports- 
mouth, confining his new appointments to residents of that 
town. This was not satisfactory to the rural portion of the 
Province, who remonstrated with the governor, and complained 
that the traders of Portsmouth were favored in imposing taxes 
to the injurv of the farmers. The governor judiciously left the 
matter to be settled by his council. 

la 1717, the authorities, at the recommendation of the gover- 
nor, issued bills of credit or bonds, to the amount of ^15,000, 
bearing 10 per cent, interest. A difficulty soon arose between 
Governor Shute and Lieutenant-Governor Vaughan. The latter 
claimed to be chief magistrate in the absence of the former and 
suspended councillors and dissolved the Assembly on his own 
authority. To this Governor Shute objected, and the council 
sustained him ; whereupon he suspended Vaughan, reinstated 
Penhallow, a deposed councillor, and recalled the dissolved Assem- 
bly. John Wentworth, sometime later in the year, received 
the appointment of lieutenant-governor, his commission arriv- 
ing early in December. 

Wentworth had accumulated considerable property. He was 
prudent, obliging, and popular with the people ; and, having 
served five years in the council before he was appointed lieuten- 
ant-governor, he was familiar with the forms and duties of the 
office. As a merchant, he could develop the resources of the 
Province to the best advantage, and, as it was a time of peace, 
find for the lumber and naval stores a ready and profitable 
market. 

Under Wentworth's wise admniistration various industries 
were fostered. An old Massachusetts trrant was revived, and a 



13S msTOKV OF NKW HAMPSHIRE. [1722 

strip of land bordering on Dover, called the two-mile slip, was 
given to encourage the mining of iron ore. Besides masts, there 
was considerable commerce in tar, pitch, and turpentine ; and a 
start was made in raising hemp. All the available land in the 
Province already granted was not sufficient for the wants of the 
people. 

At this juncture, a large party of emigrants from the north of 
Ireland arrived in New England and requested of Governor Shute 
the grant of a township on which to settle. He sent a party of 
them along the eastern coast, but they returned to Boston with- 
out finding land that suited them. Hearing of a desirable place 
ungranted above Haverhill, they chose to locate their grant of 
n township there. This was in 17 19. A new difficulty now 
arose. Who could grant the territory ? The King could not do 
so without interfering with private property, for his predeces- 
sors had already granted it. Some three years before, the 
authorities of Massachusetts and New Hampshire had attempted 
to decide their boundary line, but could not agree. There were 
many claimants under the Masonian grant ; and there was an 
Indian title. The new settlers at first bought the latter title 
and applied to Usher, representative of the Masonian claim, for 
a deed from him for his interests, but could not obtain one. So 
they laid out their township, and, as they could do so, perfected 
their titles. They brought with them the cultivation of the Irish 
potatoes, and the necessary materials for the manufacture of 
linen. They came with their ministers and their school-masters ; 
and were pious, brave and frugal. They at once organized a 
church, and receiving an act of protection from the New Hamp- 
shire authorities, were permitted to have a justice of the peace, 
James McKeen, and a deputy sheriff, Robert Weir, among 
them. Their number was rapidly increased by later arrivals, 
so that, in 1722, the town was incorporated by the name of 
Londonderry. 

The Scotch-Irish, so called in New England history, were of 
Saxon lineage, with their blood unmi.xed, in the seventeenth 
century, with the half barbaric Scotch highlanders, or their rude 
cousins, the Irish Celts. They were rigid Presbyterians, fol- 



1722] ROVAL PROVINCE. I39 

lowers and admirers of Oliver Cromwell, enemies of Popery and 
the Established Church of England, brave, zealous, lovers of 
learning and liberty, and withal bigoted in their advanced 
notions. Cromwell had peopled the waste districts of northern 
Ireland with these, his most trusted and reliable troops, to pacify 
that land most effectually. A change in the government 
brought careless King Charles II to the throne, a Catholic at 
heart, an Episcopalian by profession, a voluptuary in practice, who 
withdrew his support from, and deprived of arms for defence, 
the Scotch colony planted in Iicland, leaving them to the mercy 
of a revengeful peasantr)-. Who so ready to welcome a revolu- 
tion as these brave Scots, oppressed by the government, cruelly 
persecuted by their neighbors, and powerless to oppose ? William 
of Orange became their champion, ami, like the Ironsides of 
Cromwell, their fathers, they drove the Irish from their borders, 
antl withstood the most determined siege in historv within the 
walls of Londontlerry, resisting the power of the Irish and 
French troops seeking to reduce them. 

They could present a brave front to an open attack, but they 
were not equal to withstanding the petty encroachments of the 
Established Church insidiously undermining their beloved Kirk. 
The Pilgrims had found religious freedom in a new and undeve- 
loped country, and thither the Scotch-Irish sent agents to spy 
out and report the condition of the land and its fitness for 
occupation. The Irish hati not intimidated them ; they scorned 
the untutored Indian. Like an invading host they flocked to 
the sea-board and poured into New England, Pennsylvania, and 
the southern provinces, pushing the frontiers rapidly into the 
untrodden wilderness, and settling the fertile valleys and hill- 
sides far in advance of their predecessors. One stream striking- 
Boston was diverted to Londonderry. The Scotch-Irish colony 
located there in 17 19 came to stay. Hundreds followed in their 
footsteps, tarried awhile with their friends so happily settled, 
and pressed on into the wilderness, over the hills to the P"alls of 
Amoskeag, up the Merrimack, by Hooksett Falls, to the fertile 
valley of the Suncook. still further to the blooming intervales of 
Penacook and the wide meadows of the Contoocook. They 



I40 HISTOKV U.- NEW IIAMPSHIKE. IW-^ 

were cultivating fields in Epsom before the township was laid 
out to the grantees. The Massachusetts surveying party laying 
out Concord reported that they were in possession of the inter- 
vales, and were protected by a fort from disturbance of friend or 
foe. The law dislodged them from that favored spot, now the 
site of the village of East Concord, and was invoked to keep 
them out by the first settlers : for among the first regulations 
adopted by the proprietors of " Penacook " was one forbidding 
the alienation of any lot without the consent of the community 
under penalty of forfeiting the right to the lot to the proprietors 
— a rule evidently intended to exclude a "parcel of Irish people " 
known to be seeking homes in the neighborhood. 

The proprietors of Suncook no doubt found the land occupied 
by these same strangers and aliens, but the same prejudice did 
not prevail, for early in the records of the township the Scotch- 
Irish were holding " original rights," were admitted as pro- 
jDrietors and freeholders, and even as early as 1737 were claiming 
a majority. No doubt they held the title to their lands first by 
possession and occupation, next by legal conveyance from the 
Suncook proprietors. Being in a majority they claimed a voice 
in the settlement of a minister to preach the gospel, but were 
" counted out," and paid their rates towards the support of a 
minister not to their liking with evident disrelish. 

^ What wealth of associations is connected with the name of 
Londonderry ! The Scotch Covenanters, stern, brave men, who 
made a garden of the north of Ireland, who so stubbornly and 
successfully defended their devoted city, who helped so manfully 
to maintain the monarch and the cause that later would oppress 
them as aliens, surrounded by enemies at home, burdened by 
obnoxious laws enforced by their allies of the Established 
Church, sought in the wilderness of America liberty and that 
religious freedom which the Puritans, a century earlier, had suc- 
cessfully gained. A young man. Holmes by name, son of a 
Presbyterian minister, brought a good account of the promised 
land. Four congregations, led by their respective clergymen, 
commenced the exodus, which, in a few years, rendered possible 

I Hon. L. \ Morrison, A. M. 



IJig] KOVAI. I'KO'/IXCE. 141 

the American Revolution. Governor Shute, of Massachusetts, 
was above the narrow prejudices of his contemporaries in the 
colony, and welcomed this band of hardy settlers, resolute 
warriors, scholars and skilled artisans, and generously granted 
tliem a large section of land. 'April 11, 1719, the congregation, 
under the spiritual guidance of Rev. James MacGregore, arrived 
at Horse Hill and commenced the settlement of the township of 
Londonderry, a tract, as originally granted, twelve miles square. 
It cornered on the present Massachusetts State line, and was 
bounded on the south by Pelham, on the west by Litchfield, on 
the north by Chester, and on the east by Hampstead. It in- 
cluded the present towns of Londonderry, Derry, and Windham, 
and tracts now embraced within the towns of Salem, Hudson, 
and the city of Manchester. 

These settlers, whose descendants have removed the odium at- 
tached to the name of Scotch-Irish, and have written their 
names on the imperishable pages of history, receiving their 
original grant from Massachusetts, had it confirmed to them by 
the authorities of New Hampshire, purchased the right claimed 
under the Wheelwright deed and evidently entered into a compact 
with the Indians, for they were never disturbed in their possess- 
ions, although a frontier town. During the first summer they 
united in cultivating a field in common, amicably dividing the 
produce in the autumn. Although not rich, they brought with 
them considerable property from the old country, and very soon 
were surrounded with many of the comforts and even luxuries 
of civilization. A two-story house was built for their minister, 
and a commodious church for public worship. Schools were estab- 
lished in different parts of the town and much attention 
given to the education of the young. It is a characteristic fact 
that ninety-five out of one hundred of the original proprietors 
left their autographs in a fairly legible hand on various petitions. 

The progress made by the town of Londonderry was remark- 
able. Its wealth and population increased rapidly. In 1775 
it contained 2,590 inhabitants, ranking next to Portsmouth in im- 
portance. By 1820 Gilmanton and Sanbornton had outstripped 
it, and it held the fourth position among the New Hampshire 
towns. 



143 



IIISTOKV OF .Ni;w HAMPSHIRE. 



.1719 



The vanguard of the Scotch-Irish invasion which settled Londonderrv, ac- 
cording to Jolin Farmer, were : 



Randel Alexander. 
Samuel Allison. 
Allen Anderson. 
James Anderson. 
John Barnet. 
Archibald Clendenin. 



James Clark. 
James Gregg. 
John Mitchell. 
John Morrison. 
James McKean 



John Xesmith. 
Thomas Steele. 
Sterrett. 
John Steward. 
Robert Weir. 



Within a few vears thev were followed by 



James Adams. 
John Adams. 
James Aiken. 
Nathaniel Aiken. 
James Alexander. 
John Andersen, 
Robert Arbiickel. 
John Archbald. 
John Barnett. 
Moses Barnett. 
John Barr. 
Samuel Barr. 
John Bell. 
James Blair. 
John Blair. 
James Caldwell. 
James Campbell. 
David Cargill. 
Benjamin Chamberlain. 
Matthew Clark. 
Andrew Clendenin. 
Ninin Cochran. 
Peter Cochran. 
Robert Cochran. 
William Cochran. 
Thomas Cochran. 
John Conaghie. 
Hugh Craige. 
John Craig. 
Jesse Cristi. 
John Cromay. 
John Dinsmore. 
Patrick Douglass. 
William Eayrs. 
JanieN (iillnior. 



Robert Gillmor. 
John Goffe. 
John Goffe, Jr. 
Samuel Graves. 
John Gregg. 
William Harper. 
James Harvey. 
John Harvey. 
William Hogg. 
Abraham Holmes, 
lonathan Hollnie. 
John Hopkins. 
Solomon Hopkins. 
Thomas Horner. 
Samuel Houston. 
William Humphrey. 
David Hunter. 
Alexander Kelsey. 
Robert Kennedy. 
Benjamin Kidder, 
James Leslie. 
James Lindsay. 
Edward Linkfield. 
Daniel McDuffie. 
Robert McFarlin. 
Nathan McFarlin. 
James MacGregore. 
David MacGregore. 
Robert McKean. 
Samuel McKean. 
Archibald Mackmurphy, 
John McMurphy. 
Alexander MacNeal. 
John McNeill. 
William Michell. 



Hugh Montgomery. 

John Moore. 

William Moore. 

James Morrison 

Robert Morrison. 

Samuel Morrison. 

David Morrison. 

James Nesmith. 

.Alexander Nickels. 

Hugh Ramsey. 
James Reid. 

Matthew Reid. 
Alexander Renkine. 

Samuel Renkin. 
James Rodgers. 

Hugh Rogers. 

John Shields. 

Archibald Stark. 
Charles Stewart. 
Thomas Stewart. 
James Taggart. 
John Taggart. 
James Thomson. 
William Thomson. 
Robert Thompson. 
Andrew Todd. 
Samuel Todd. 
Alexander Walker. 
James Walles. 
Archibald Wear. 
Robert Weir. 
Benjamin Willson. 
Ja:nes Willson. 
Hugh Wilson. 
Thonias Wilson. 



I720J KOYAL PROVINCE. I43 

And later by those cf the name of 



Taylor. 


Pierce. 


McAlester. 


Gibson. 


Spaulding. 


Livermore. 


Burns. 


Prentice. 


McClintock. 


Parker. ^ 


Wallace. 


Knox. 


Proctor. 


Choate. 


Mann. 


Thornton. 


Patterson. 


Cunningham. 


Thom. 


Fisher. 


Daniels. 


Simonds. 


Pinkerton. 


Martin. 



The granting and incorporation of Londonderry to new com- 
ers was distasteful to men who for a generation had suffered to 
maintain a foothold along the coast against the attacks of a 
cruel and treacherous enemy, cramped for land as they and their 
large families had become ; and immediately all kinds of reasons 
were advanced why townships should be granted, both in New 
Hampshire and in what was then claimed as Massachusetts, 
bounded by a line parallel with the Merrimack river, extending to 
Governor's Island in Lake Winnipiseogee, and thence running 
due west across the present State of Vermont to the east line 
of the Province of New York. Some of these petitions were 
favorably received and acted upon. In 1722, Governor Shute, 
as his last official act, granted and incorporated, in the name of 
the King, the four townships of Chester, Nottingham, Barrington, 
and Rochester. 

^ The records of Chester commence with the proceedings of 
a meeting of the " Society for settling the Chestnut Country, 
held at said country, the fifteenth of October, 17 19." The 
society had probably existed some time, and was composed 
principally of men of Hampton and Portsmouth. Afterward 
duplicate records were kept at Hampton. The number of the 
society was restricted to ninety. They had preferred a petition 
to the governor and council, and in March, 1720, it was with- 
drawn, and another presented. They also voted to keep three 
men on the ground, and a possession fence was built. They 
also laid out lots before obtaining any grant. This meeting was 
probably at Walnut Hill, near the south east corner of the town- 
ship. There was also another company of Massachusetts men, 



144 IIISTUKV OF NEW llAMI'SUIKE. [1/22 

headed by John C.ilf, who were endeavoriat; to [jrocure a grant. 
John Calf was a clothier at the Falls, in Newbury, and was a 
grantee under the charter of Chester, and moved and carried 
on the trade there. They also tried to have possession. There 
is a deed on the records to Samuel Ingalls of "Cheshire," 
blacksmith, dated Oct. 23, 1717. H'e appears afterward, indeed, 
to be of Haverhill, but he had a constructive residence in 
Chester, and a constructive possession of the territory. There 
seems, by the House and council records, to have been other 
parties endeavoring to obtain a grant. There is a deed on 
Rockingham records, dated May, 1722, wherein Stephen Dud- 
ley, of Freetown (Raymond), in consideration of affection, con- 
veys to Francis James of Gloucester, his right to 400 acres in 
Freetown, to be taken out of that tract bought of Peter Penult, 
and Abigail his squaw, by deed, dated on Jan. 17, 1718. 

This was probably a move for color of title and possession 
for some of the parties. There was a compromise made by 
admitting certain persons of the Massachusetts party, and also 
of E.xeter, and a grant was obtained Jan. 4, 1720; but the char- 
ter of the town was dated May 8, 1722. The governor and 
lieutenant-governor had each a farm of 500 acres, and a home 
lot, by a vote of the society ; and the charter provided that the 
first settled minister should have a right, also one for a parson- 
age, and one for a school. The boundaries commenced at the 
south-east corner, at the supposed intersection of Haverhill 
and Kingston lines. In 1674, Haverhill lines were run from 
Holt's Rocks (a little east of the Rock bridge), north-west ; and 
from Merrimack river due north, until it cut the first line. 

At this spot was " erected a great pillar of stones," which 
two old men, more than si.xty years ago, told Benjamin Chase 
they had seen in Chester South Woods. When the Province 
line was settled in 1741, Daniel McDuffee and Hugh McDuffee, 
who lived near Kimball's corner in Derry, were cut off from 
Haverhill. 

When the town was laid out into lots, there were 1 17 grantees ; 
and each member of the council had a right. The home lots 
of 20 acres, from the corner by Kingston, and the old Haver- 



1722] KOVAI. I'KOVINCE. 145 

liill line, to the head of Chester street, and a ten rod way cross- 
ing at right angles where the Centre now is, on which the 
first meeting-house was built, were laid out in 17 19, before any 
grant was made. In 1724, an additional lot of fifty acres was 
laid out to each grantee. The beavers had built dams on the 
stream, which killed the growth, and when the beavers were 
killed and the dams went down, the grass came in, and in 
1728 a meadow lot was laid out to each right. There is a 
stream, which heads near the Congregational church in Auburn, 
extending into Londonderry, with meadows, which was called 
the '-Long Meadows"; and what is now Auburn was the 
"Long Meadows." In 1728, the first part of the second 
division of lOO acres, called the " Old Hundreds," which is the 
present town of Raymond ; in 1736 the second part of the 
second division of 100 acres ; in 1739 the third division of 80 
acres, all in Candia ; in 1745 the fourth division of 60 acres; 
and in 1752 the fifth division of 40 acres, all in Hooksett, were 
laid out. Maps of these divisions were made at the time, and 
have been preserved by copying, and all deeds gave the number 
and division of the lot, so that one can locate every settler 
whose deed is on record. The first settler was Samuel Ingalls, 
born in Andover, 1683, and moved to Haverhill, and had six 
children before coming to Chester ; and his daughter Meheta- 
ble, born 1723, was the first child born in Chester. She married 
Samuel Moore, who afterwards lived at Candia corner. She 
died in 18 18. There is a tradition that he came to Chester 
in 1720. In March, 1722, Samuel Ingalls of Winfield, otherwise 
Cheshire, sold a right, reserving the home lot, number 64, " on 
which I live." He built the first farmhouse about 1732; held 
the ofifice of raoderator, selectman and town clerk. In 1731, 
Samuel Ingalls is styled captain on the record and Ebenezer 
Dearborn, lieutenant, and Jacob Sargent, ensign, which was the 
first military organization. January, 1720, he and three others 
had land and a privilege granted to build a saw-mill, and in 
1730 John Aiken had a grant of land to build a grist-mill. 

Londonderry was granted to settlers, already on the ground, 
but there were but six of the oriirinal cfrantees of Chester who 



146 HISTOKV OF NKW HAMPSHIRE. ['7-2 

ever lived here, except the Rev. Moses Hale, the first minister 
who settled on the minister's lot. The first settlement was at 
Walnut Hill, near the south-east corner, but settlers soon came 
in from different parts and settled in different places. The 
charter provided that every proprietor should build a house and 
settle a family in three years, and break up and plant three 
acres in four years, and a meeting-house should be built in 
four years, provided that there should be no Indian war in that 
time. The settlers, who were grantees, were Samuel Ingalls, 
William Healey of Hampton Falls, Dea. Ebenezer Dearborn of 
Hampton, who had five sons ; Nathan Webster of Bradford, who 
had three sons ; John Calf, who lived in Chester, and Thomas 
Smith of Hampton. 

The sons of grantees were John and Samuel Robinson, sons 
of Ichabod of Hampton Falls ; Ephraim, Thomas, and John 
Haselton, sons of Richard of Bradford ; Anthony and Francis 
Towle, sons of Caleb of Hampton, and Elisha, a grandson, 
settled in Raymond ; and John Shackford, son of Samuel of 
Portsmouth ; and Samuel Emerson, son of Jonathan of Haver- 
hill. His name first appears on the records in 173 1, when he 
was elected town clerk, and was re-elected every year until 
1787, when he died. His son John succeeded him until 1S17. 
He was a land surveyor, and laid out the second part of the 
second division in 1736, and all subsequent divisions. He did 
all the surveying and wrote most of the deeds. He was a man 
of such judgment and integrity, and the people had such confi- 
dence in him, that nearly all the minor controversies were 
referred to him without any legal formalities, and his decision 
was beyond appeal or review. His son, Nathaniel, was a promi- 
nent man in Candia. Among the early settlers were Enoch 
and Benaiah Colby, and Paul and Sylvanus Smith of Hampton ; 
Ensign Jacob Sargent from Amesbury, Sampson Underbill 
from Salisbury, Cornet John Lane from Rye; Henry, Jonathan, 
and Nathaniel Hall from Bradford ; Thomas, Moses, Daniel, 
and Caleb Richardson ; also, Benjamin Hill, who was the first 
representative elected, but not received ; and Abel Morse, who 
was the first representative received, from Newbury : who were 



1722] ROVAI, PROVINCE. I47 

Congregationalists. Then of the Scotch-Irish, who were Pres- 
byterians ; the grandfather, James Wilson, who died 1739, aged 
100; the son, James, and his four sons, William, James, Robert, 
and Hugh. They came from Ireland to Stratham, thence to 
Chester in 172S; Alexander Craige, William White, William 
Crawford, John Talford, William and Robert Graham, John 
Aiken, and James Shirley. In 1728, the meeting-house was located 
at "Centre where four principal roads met," near the minister's 
lot. The dimensions were fifty by thirty-five feet, and each 
proprietor was to pay forty shillings. The house was not fin- 
ished until several years afterwards, and in 1737 land was 
granted to Peter and Thomas Cochran, the builders. This 
house stood until 1773, when a new and noble house was 
erected, and since has been modernized. 

In 1729, Mr. John Tuck of Hampton was called to be the 
minister, with a salary of ^120, which he declined. January 
15, 1729, Rev. Moses Hale was called to be the minister with a 
salary of ^120. He was ordained October 20, 173 1. He was 
born at Newbury, 1702; graduated. Harvard, 1722. He built 
a house on the minister's lot, and purchased Governor 
Wentworth's home lot, which was sold to his successor, Rev. 
Ebenezer Flagg. Mr. Hale soon became deranged, and was 
dismissed in 1735, and moved to Haverhill. June, 1735, Rev. 
Timothy White was called, but declined. June 23, 1736, Rev. 
Ebenezer Flagg was called, with a salary of ^^120, silver at 
twenty shillings per ounce. He was ordained September, 1736. 
He was born at Woburn, October 18, 1704; graduated Harvard, 
1725 ; died November 14, 1796, and was succeeded by Re v. 
Nathan Bradstreet, 1792. 

The Presbyterians joined in building the meeting-house and 
paying Mr. Hale; but before he left they had hired the Rev. 
John Wilson, and afterwards built a meeting-house about a mile 
south of the other, and they protested against hiring or settling 
any other minister. They appealed to the governor and coun- 
cil by a document, in an excellent handwriting and language 
and noble sentiments ; and the result was an act was passed, 
1740, incorporating two parishes. There is in existence one of 



148 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1722 

Mr. Wilson's manuscript sermons, dated 1734. There was a 
small meeting-house built at the Long Meadows, and about one 
third of the preaching was there. In 1793, the two were talvcn 
down and a new one built at the Long Meadows. Mr. Wilson 
died February i, 1778, succeeded in stated supplies by a Mr. 
Clark, Mr. Amran and others, and Mr. Colby, installed 1863. 

The first grant for a saw-mill was made to Samuel Ingalls 
and others, and a grist-mill to John Aiken. About 1734, John 
Calf moved to Chester, and in 1735, had a grant of land and 
privilege to build a fulling mill on the stream running into the 
pond, above the present mill-pond. There probably was none 
to the north of it for a long time, and an extensive business 
was done. His son Robert succeeded him, and built a saw- 
mill there. Samuel Shirley had built a corn-mill on the present 
site, and Calf's dam being cut away, he and his son-in-law, 
Joseph Blanchard, purchased Shirley's' in 1777, and the privi- 
lege has been used for a grist-mill, saw-mill, clothing-mill and 
for other manufactures. 

In 1739, land and privilege was granted to John McMurphy 
to build a grist-mill on Massabesic river, below the pond, re- 
serving the right to build iron works, should ore be found. 
The first inventory on record was, in 1741, returned to the 
secretary's office to make a proportion of Province rates, on 
which are 150 names, 124 houses, 97 horses, 78 oxen. In 1776, 
there were 916 inhabitants. In 1744, a writ for the election of 
a representative was sent to Chester by the governor, and 
Benjamin Hill was elected, but was sent back because the writ 
was not issued by the Assembly. In 1748, Captain Abel Morse 
was received. 

The committee of the society voted that when the next pro- 
prietor forfeited his lot, it should be appropriated to a school ; 
January, 1721. In 1737, jCso were raised for a school ; the 
master to be removed to different parts of the town. In 1740, 
it was voted that a school should be maintained through the 
year, partly by masters and partly by dames. In 1744, the town 
was divided, and school-houses built probably then. It was 
voted in 1750, that Charming Fare (Candia) and Freetown (Ray- 



17-2] ROVAI. PROVINCE. 1 J9 

iiiond) should have their share of tlie school money. The town 
was required by law, having loo families, to have a grammar 
school. The selectmen were once indicted for not having such 
a school. 

It will be seen that Chester was a very large town, and now 
constitutes several towns. At the annual meeting, March, 175 i, 
it was voted that "a tract at the south-west corner of the town, 
four miles long and five miles and three quarters wide, may bo 
adjoined to a part of Londonderry, and the lands about Amos- 
keag may be set off as a separate parish." The land between 
Chester and the river called Harrytown had never been incorpo- 
rated into any town. 

Chester old line was about a mile from the city hall of Man- 
chester. This was incorporated into a township, called Derry- 
field, September 3, 175 1. The name was altered to Manchester, 
in 1810. 

At the annual meeting, March, 1762, "voted that a tract 
about four miles and a half long, and four miles wide, may be 
incorporated into a parish;" incorporated December 17, 1793; 
named Candia. At a meeting, January 22, 1763, it was voted 
"that tlie north parish or Freetown shall be set off as a town or 
parish ; " incorporated by the name of Raymond, May 9, 1764. 

The inhabitants of that part of Chester, commonly called 
"Chester Woods," extending to AUenstown, suffering inconven- 
iencies, the farthest having to travel seventeen miles to town 
meeting, preferred a petition to be set off, and at the annual 
meeting, March, 1822, the town passed a vote in favor, and July 
2, this, with a part of Dunbarton, was incorporated by the name 
of Hooksett. 

In 1845 the town was divided, and the west part, which had 
been called the Long Meadows, containing about two-fifths of 
the territory and inhabitants, was incorporated by the name of 
Auburn. 

Settlements were not commenced at Nottingham and Roches- 
ter until after the Lovewell war. Harrington was settled about 
1732. 



ISO 



HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



1722 



in Februarv , 1717, occurred tlie greatest fall of snow recorded in the an- 
nals of New England — almost burving under the frozen mass the small log- 
houses of the new plantations. In Boston the snow was six feet deep. Dur- 
ing the year the laws of die Province were printed for the first time, at Boston, 
in a folio volume of sixtv pages.' 




>Jt.wCAsrl-"^ ysi(£H'»ieN 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ROYAL PROVINCE, 1722-1740. 

Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth — Governor Samuel Shute — 
FouRTrt Indian, or Lovewell's War — -Indian Grievances — Depre- 
dations IN New Hampshire — Attack on Nashua — John Lovewell's 
Three Expeditions — Suncook — Peace — Penacook — Rye — Rum- 
ford — Timothy Walker — -First Church of Concord — - IIollis — 
Bow — Suncook Settled — Other Settlements — Newmarket — 
William Burnet — Jonathan Belcher — Death of Wentworth — 
Character — • David Dunbar — Durham — Amherst — Boscawen — • 
Charlestown — Riot at Exeter — Commerce — Episcopal Chapel — 
Throat Distemper — Suncook — Boundary Line Adjusted — Massa- 
chusetts Documents — Windham — -Retirement of Belcher. 

npHEREwere within New Hampshire at this period not far 
from ten thousand inhabitants. E.xcept for the Lovewell 
War, in which the Indians were by far the heaviest losers, it was a 
time of foreign and domestic peace ; and the Province advanced 
rapidly in numbers and in wealth. From the unfortunate 
•quarrel between the royal governor and many of the leading 
men of the Province, the way was prepared for an independent 
and a separate government. The older towns continued to be 
nurseries for hardy and stalwart pioneers, who steadily pushed 
the settlements further and further into the wilderness. The 
gun had done its share in conquering the land, and now the 
axe and the plough became the instruments of civilization. 
The log huts of the settlers were rapidly replaced by the old- 
fashioned frame houses, and the adjoining fields became more 
and more extended. Husbandry, the chief occupation of the 
people, produced a race of men hardy, healthy and happy. 
Large families were the rule ; and sons, when they had chosen 



152 msroKV OF new iiAMrsHiKE. [1723 

their mates, were sure of obtaining a home in the woods, where 
their industry would soon provide them with a farm. 

Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth was chief magistrate 
of New Hampshire from the date when Governor Samuel Shute 
left the colonies for England, in June, 1723, to the arrival in 
America of his successor, Governor William Burnet, in 1728. 

A violent party in Massachusetts had made such strenuous 
opposition to him, and caused him so much vexation, that 
Governor Shute found it desirable to ask leave to return to 
England. He is said to have been a man of humane, obliging 
and friendly disposition ; but having been used to military com- 
mand, for he was a colonel in the English army before his ap- 
pointment, he could not bear with patience the collision of 
parties, nor could he keep his temper when provoked. Fond of 
ease, and now in the decline of life, he would gladly have spent 
his days in America, if he could have avoided controversy. The 
people of New Hampshire were satisfied with his administra- 
tion, as far as it respected them ; and were more liberal to him 
in voting him a salary than Massachusetts, in proportion to 
their means. He died April 15, 1742, at the age of eighty 
years.^ 

Governor Shute left New England suddenly, while the people 
were in the distress and perplexities of Lovevvell's Indian war. 
Upon his departure Lieutenant-Governor Wentworth conducted 
the affairs of the Province with prudence and energy. A 
system of garrisons and scouts being adopted, he saw that the 
garrisons were supplied with stores, and frequently visited the 
frontier posts personally, to see that duty was performed. He 
joined with Lieutenant-Governor William Dunimer of Mass- 
achusetts in remonstrating with the governor of Canada for 
assisting the Indians. 

The fourth Indian war, commonly called Lovewell's War, 
broke out in the summer of 1722. France and England were 
at peace at the time. The Indians were thought to have been 
instigated to assume the offensive by the French of Canada 
and by Jesuit priests resident among them. Fr. Ralle, at 

! Faimer's Helknap. 



1724] ROYAL PROVINCE. I53 

Norrido'evvock, escaped from a force sent to arrest nim ; but liis 
papers, which fell into the hands of the English, confirmed their 
belief in French intervention. The chief grievance of the 
Indians was the rapid growth of the settlement along the coast 
of Maine, interfering with their fishing and hunting privileges. 
At first disputes arose between the settlers and the Indians,, 
quickly followed by active hostilities, until the authorities of 
Massachusetts were at length forced to declare war. New Hamp- 
shire, situated between the two divisions of Massachusetts, was 
drawn into the controversy. Colonel Shadrach Walton, Col- 
onel Thomas Westbrooke of the council, and Captain John 
Penhallow, were New Hampshire men, who were active in carry- 
ing on the war to the eastward. The military of the Province 
was organized, garrison houses fortified, and scouting parties 
were kept in the field. A bounty of one hundred pounds was 
offered for every Indian scalp ; a sum equal at that time to 
about two hundred Spanish dollars. 

The first appearance of the enemy in New Hampshire was 
at Dover, in 1723, where they surprised and killed Joseph Ham, 
and took three of his children captives. The rest of his family 
escaped into the garrison. Soon afterwards they killed Tristram 
Heard. At Lamprey River, in August, they killed Aaron 
Rawlins and one of his children, taking his wife and three other 
children into captivity 

In the spring of 1724, the Indians killed James Nock, at 
Oyster River, and in May, captured Peter Colcord and Ephraim 
Stephens and two children. Colcord soon afterwards escaped. 
A week later they killed George Chesley and Elizabeth Burn- 
ham at Oyster River ; and took Thomas Smith and John Carr 
at Chester, who both escaped. In June, Moses Davis and his 
son were killed at Oyster River ; and one Indian was killed and 
two were wounded. In Dover, Ebenezer Downes, a Quaker, 
was taken ; and a part of the family of John Hawson, another 
Quaker, were killed and the rest taken into captivitv. On 
account of these atrocities an expedition was planned to 
Norridgewock, which resulted in the death of Fv. Ralle and 
eighty Indians, the release of several captives, and the recovery 



154 HISTOKV UK NEW IIAMPSHIKE. [^7-4 

of considerable plunder. Tlie Indians who wei'c out on tlie war 
path continued their depredations, killing Jabez Colman and son 
at Kingston, but avoided their own villages, to escape a similar 
fate to what befell Norridgewock. 

On the morning of September 4, 1724, Thomas Blanchard 
and Nathan Cross started from the harbor with a basket of 
lunch, a jug, and the indispensable gun, for the pine forest on 
the north side of Nashua river, to " box " trees for the manufac- 
ture of turpentine. Tradition in the Cross family locates their 
■operations on Lock street, immediately back of the cemetery. 
The day proving wet and drizzly, they put the gun and dinner 
basket into a hollow log, for the purpose of keeping the powder 
and food from getting wet. How long they pursued their work 
is unknown, but some time before night a party of seventy 
French Mohawks from Canada fell upon them and made them 
])risoner.s. The people at the Harbor, or Salmon Brook, finding 
they did not return at night-fall, started out a party of ten to 
look for them. Arriving at the place where they had been at 
work, they found several barrels of turpentine had been spilled 
on the ground, and judged, from several marks made upon the 
trees with wa.-c and grease, that the men had been carried away 
alive. The party, under the lead of Lieutenant French, decided 
to follow them and rescue their friends, if possible; but on 
arriving near the brook which flows from Horse Shoe pond, in 
Merrimack, to the Merrimack river, they were ambushed by the 
savages, and all killed except Josiah Farwell. ^ This, of course, 
ended pursuit, and Blanchard and Cross were taken to Canada 
as prisoners. After nearly a year's confinement they succeeded 
in effecting their own ransom, and returned home, finding their 
basket, jug and gun '^ in the hollow log as they had left them. 

Aroused by these depredations, John Lovewell, Josiah Far- 
well, and Jonathan Robbins petitioned the Provincial Govern- 
ment of Massachusetts for authority to raise and equip a com- 
pany of scouts to " kill and destroy " their enemy, the Indians. 
Receiving proper encouragement, Capt. Lovewell, with a com- 



JosUh Farwell was o 


ne of the grantee 


s of Suncook. 


At the January meet 


lig of the Nashu 


1 Historical Society 


society by Levi S. Cr 


OSS. 





1725] ROVAL PKOVINCE. 155 

paiiy of men zealous to revenge their injuries, caried the war 
into the country of the enemy, rangeil up the Merrimack valle)' 
and to the northward of Lake Winnipiseogee, and succeeded 
in obtaining one captive and slaying one Indian. 

On the second expedition of Captain John Lovewell's com- 
pany, the following January, 1725, they surprised and killed ten 
Indians in the neighborhood of Taniworth, The third expedi- 
tion, of forty-six men, left Dunstable April 16, 1725. 

The following detailed account of the battle is taken from the 
■work of Rev. Thomas Symmes, edited by Rev. Dr. Nathaniel 
Bouton, and published in May, 1861: 

They had travelled but a short distance before Toby, an Indian, 
falling sick, was obliged to return, which he did with great re 
luctancc. 

When they had marched as far as Contoocook, Mr. William 
Cummings of Dunstable became so disabled by a wound that 
he had received from the enemy some time before that the cap- 
tain dismissed him, together with a kinsman of his to accompany 
him back. 

They proceeded on to Ossipee, and at this place Mr. Benjamin 
Kidder of Nutfield, falling sick, the captain made a halt, and 
tarried while they built a small fortification for a place of refuge 
to resort to if there should be occasion. 

Here he left his doctor, a sergeant and seven other men, to 
take care of Kidder. And they left at this place, also, a con- 
siderable quantity of their provisions, to lighten the loads of the 
men and facilitate their march, and which they intended should 
serve as a recruit on their return. 

With his company now reduced to only thirty-four men, with 
himself, Captain Lovewell, not at all disheartened by his mis- 
fortunes, proceeded on his march from his fortification at Ossipee 
for Pigwacket, about forty miles distant from said fort, through 
a rough wilderness. 

The names of those who proceeded on from Ossipee, and who 
engaged Paugus, with his gang of about eighty Indians, are as 
follows (except one who, like a coward, ran from them at the be- 
ginning of the engagement, and sneaked back to the fort, and 



1S6 



inSTOKV OI- MAV IlAMrsHIKE. 



[1725 



whose name is unworthy of being transmitted to posterity), — 
being those brave fellows who boldly and successfully contended 
with more than twice their number, namely, 

Capt, John Lovewell, 
Lieut. Joseph Farwell, Sergeant Noah Johnson, >• 

Lieut. Jonathan Robbins, Robert Usher, 

Ensign John Harwood, Samuel Whiting, 

all of Dunstable. 
Ensign Seth Wyman, Ichabod Johnson, 

Corp. Thomas Richardson, Josiah Johnson, 

Timothy Richardson, 

all of Woburn. 

Eleazer Melvin, 
Jacob Farrar, 
Joseph Farrar, 



Eleazer Davis, 
Josiah Davis, 
Josiah Jones, 
David Melvin, 



all of Concord, Mass. 

Chaplain Jonathan Frye, of Andover. 

Sergeant Jacob Fullam, of 'Weston. 

Corp. Edward Lingfield, of Nutfield. 

Jonathan Kittridge, and Solomon Keyes, 

of Billerica. 

Eli:;s Barron, 
Isaac Lakin, 
Joseph Gilson, 



John Jefts, 
Daniel Woods, 
I'homas Woods, 
John Chamberlain, 



Ebenezer Ayer, and 



all of Groton. 

Abiel Asten, 
of Haverhill. 
From the Thursday before the battle the company were ap- 
piehensive they were discovered and dogged by the enemy ; 
and on F^riday night the watch heard the Indians about the 
camp and alarmed the company, but it being very dark, they 
could make no further discovery. 

On Saturday, the 8th of May, while they were at prayers, 

' No.-ih Johnson was the last survivor of this company. He was one of the first settlers of Pem- 
broke, where he was a deacon of the church. He received a pension from the .Massachusetts govern- 
ment of /15 per year. He removed to Plymouth, N. H., in his old age, and died there August 13, 
179S, in the one hundredtli vear of his age. 



iy2$] ROVAL I'KOVINXE. I 5/ 

very early in the morning, tlie}' heard a gun ; and some little 
time after they espied an Indian on a point that ran into Saco 
jiond. 

They now concluded that the design of the gun and the 
Indian's discovering himself was to draw them that way. They 
expected now without fail to be attacked, and it was proposed 
and consulted whether it would be prudent to venture an en- 
gagement with the enemy (who they perceived were now 
sufficiently alarmed), or endeavor a speedy retreat. The men 
generally and boldly answered : " We came to see the enemy ; 
we have all along prayed God we might find them ; and we had 
rather trust Providence with our lives, yea, die for our country, 
than try to return without seeing them, if we might, and be 
called cowards for our pains." 

The captain readily complied to lead them on, though not 
without manifesting some apprehensions ; and, supposing the 
enemy were ahead of them (when, as it proved, they were in the 
rear), ordered the men to lay down their packs, and march witli 
the greatest caution, and in the utmost readiness. 

When they had marched about a mile and a half, or two miles. 
Ensign Wyman espied an Indian coming toward them, where- 
upon he gave a signal, and they all squatted, and let the Imiian 
come on. In a short time several guns were fired at him ; upon 
which the Indian fired upon Captain Lovewell with beaver-shot, 
and wounded him mortally (as is supposed), though he made but 
little complaint, and was still able to travel, and at the same time 
wounded Mr. Samuel Whiting. Ensign Wyman immediately 
fired at and killed the Indian, and Mv. Fry and another scalped 
hin. 1 

^ Gov, Hutchinson, in his history of Massachusetts, has ranked this Indian with the Roman 
Curtius, who devoted himself to death to save his country. Dr. Belknap, who visited the s:iot in 
17S4, thinks there is no foundation for the idea that he was placed there as a decoy ; and that he had 
no claim to the character of a hero. The point on which he stood was a noted fishing place ; the 
gun which alarmed Lovewell's company was fired at a flock of ducks ; and when they met him he 
was returning home with his game, and two fowling pieces. The village was situated at the edge of 
the meadow, on Saco river, which here forms a large bend. The remains of the stockade w ere found by 
the first settlers of Fr\-eburg forty years afterward. Walter Bryant, of Bow, who was employed as 
surveyor in a company engaged in the intended expedition against Canada, in 1747, passed over the 
ground where the sanguinary conflict took place. He there " discovered Indian camps large enough 
to hold thirty men —saw the spot where Lovewell was killed, and the trees full of bullet-holes, hav- 



l^H IIISTOKV OF NEW IlAMPSllIKE. ['725 

They then marched back toward their packs (which the enemy 
had found in the mean time and seized), and about ten of the 
clock, when they came pretty near to where they had laid them, 
at the north-east end of Saco pond, on a plain place, where there 
were few trees and but little brush, the Indians rose up in front 
and rear in two parties, and ran toward the English, three or 
four deep, with their guns presented. The English also in- 
stantly presented their guns, and rushed on to meet them. 

When they had advanced to within a few yards of each other 
they fired on both sides, and the Indians fell in considerable 
numbers ; but the English, most, if not all of them, escaped the 
first shot, and drove the Indians several rods. Three or four 
rounds were fired on both sides ; but the Indians being more 
than double in number to our men, and having already killed 
Captain Lovewell, Mr. Fullam (only son of Major Fullam of 
Weston), Ensign Harwood,John Jefts, Jonathan Kittredge, Dan- 
iel Woods, Ichabod Johnson, Thomas Woods, and Josiah Davis, 
and wounded Lieutenants Farvvell and Robbins and Robert 
Usher, in the place where the fight began, and striving to 
surround the rest, the word was given to retreat to the pond, 
which was done with a great deal of good conduct, and proved 
a great service to the English (the pond covering their rear), 
though the Indians got the ground where the dead of our party 
lay. 

The fight continued very furious and obstinate, till towards 
night — the Indians roaring and yelling and howling like wolves, 
barking like dogs, and making all sorts of hideous noises — the 
English frequently shouting and huzzaing, as they did after the 
first round. At one time Capt. Wyman is confident the Indians, 
were diverting themselves in povv^owing, by their striking upon 
the ground, and other odd motions ; but Wyman, creeping up 
and shooting their chief actor, broke up their meeting. 

Some of the Indians, holding up ropes, asked the English if 
they would take quarter ; but were briskly answered, that they 
would have no quarter but at the muzzles of their guns. 



ing, also, imilalions of men's faces cut out upon them." When Dr. Belknap «as there the nan 
the dead, on tlie trees, and the holes where balls had entered and been cut out, were plainly vi 
The trees h-;l tlie appearance of being very old, and one of them was fallen.— /fist. Coll., vol. 
i9, 30. 



1725] KOVAI. I'KOVIN'CE. 1 59 

About the middle of the afternoon the ingenious Mr. Jon- 
athan Frye (only son of Captain James Frye of Andover), a 
young gentleman of liberal education, who took his degree at 
Harvard College, 1723, and was chaplain to the company and 
greatly beloved by them for his excellent performances and 
good behavior, and who fought with undaunted courage till that 
time of day, was mortally wounded. But when he could fight 
no longer he prayed audibly several times for the preservation 
and success of the residue of the company. 

Sometime after sunset the enemy drew off and left the field 
to our men. It was supposed and believed that not more than 
twenty of the enemy went off well. About midnight the Eng- 
lish assembled themselves, and upon examination into their 
situation they found Jacob Farrar just expiring by the pond, 
and Lieutenant Robbins and Robert Usher unable to travel. 

Lieutenant Robbins desired his companions to charge his gun, 
and leave it with him, which they did; he declaring that "As 
the Indians will come in the morning to scalp me, I will kill one 
more of them if I can." 

There were eleven more of the English who were badly 
wounded, namely, Lieut. Farwell, Mr. Frye, Sergeant Johnson, 
Samuel Whiting, Elias Barron, John Chamberlain, Isaac Lakin, 
Eleazer Davis and Josiah Jones ; but they, however, marched 
off the ground with the nine others who received no consider- 
able wounds, namely. Ensign Wyman, Edward Lingfield, 
Thomas Richardson, the two Melvins, Ebenezer Ayer, Abiel 
Asten, Joseph Farrar and Joseph Gilson. These all proceeded 
on their return for the fort, and did not perceive that they were 
waylaid or pursued by the enemy, though they knew our men 
had no provision, and must therefore be very faint. 

Four of the wounded men, namely, Farwell, Frye, Davis and 
Jones, after they had travelled about a mile and a half, found 
themselves unable to go any further, and with their free consent 
the rest kept on their march, hoping to find a recruit at the 
fort, and to return with fresh hands to relieve them 

As they proceeded on they divided into three companies one 
morning, as they were passing a thick wood, for fear of making 



l6o III.STOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l7-5 

a track liy vvhicli the cncm)' might follow them. One of the 
companies came iii)on three Indians, who pursued them some 
time. Meanwhile Elias Barron, one of this party, strayed from 
the others, and got over Ossipee river, by the side of which his 
gun case was found, and he was not heard of afterward. 
PZleven, in another party, reached the fort at Ossipee ; but to 
their great surprise found it deserted. The coward who fled in 
the beginning of the battle ran directly to the fort, and gave 
the men posted there such a frightful account of what had hap- 
pened that they all fled from the fort and made the best of their 
way home. 

Solomon Keyes also came to the fort. When he had fought 
in the battle till he had received three wounds, and had become 
so weak by the loss of blood that he could not stand, he crawled 
up to Ensign Wvman, in the heat of the battle, and told him he 
was a dead man ; but (said he) if it be possible I will get out of 
the way of the Indians that they may not get my scalp. Keyes 
then crept off by the sitle of the pond to where he provident- 
ially found a canoe, when he rolled himself into it, and was 
driven by the wind several miles toward the fort ; he gained 
strength fast, and reached the fort as soon as the eleven before 
mentioned, and they all arrived at Dunstable on the 13th of 
May, at night. 

On the 15th of May, Ensign Wyman, and three others, arrived 
at Dunstable. They suffered greatly for want of provisions. 
They informed that they were wholly destitute of all kinds of 
food from a Saturday morning till the Wednesday following, 
when they caught two mouse-squirrels, which they roasted whole, 
and found to be a sweet morsel. The)' afterwards killed some 
partridges and other game, and were comfortably supplied till 
they got home. 

Eleazer Davis arrived at Berwick, and reported that he and 
the other three who were left with him waited some days for the 
return of the men from the fort, and at length despairing of 
their return, though their wounds were putrefied and stank, and 
they were almost dead with famine, yet they all travelled on 
several miles together, till Mr. Frye desired Davis and Farwell 



1725] ROYAL PROVINCE. 161 

not to hinder themselves any longer on his account, for he found 
himself dying, and he laid himself down, telling them he should 
never rise more, and charged Davis, if it should please God to 
bring him home, to goto his father and tell him that he expected 
in a few hours to be in eternity, and that he was not afraid to die. 
They left him, and this amiable and promising young gentleman, 
who had the journal of the march in his pocket, was not heard 
of again. 

Lieutenant Farvvell, who was greatly and no doubt deservedly 
applauded and lamented, was also left by Davis within a few 
miles of the fort, and was not afterward heard of. But Davis, 
getting to the fort, and finding provision there, tarried and re- 
freshed himself, and recovered strength to travel to Berwick. 

Josiah Jones, another of the four wounded who were left the 
day after the fight but a short distance from the scene of action, 
traversed Saco river, and after a fatiguing ramble arrived at 
Saco (now Biddeford), emaciated and almost dead from the loss 
of blood, the putrefaction of his wounds, and the want of food. 
He had subsisted upon the spontaneous vegetables of the forest, 
and cranberries, &c., which he had eaten came out at a wound 
he had received in his body. He was kindly treated by the peo- 
ple at Saco, and recovered of his wounds. 

Several of the Indians, particularly Paugus, their chief, were 
well known to Lovewell's men, and frequently conversed with 
each other during the engagement. 

After the return of the English from their fight, Colonel Tyng, 
with a company, went to the place of action, where he found 
and buried the slain. 

Colonel Tyng found where the Indians had buried three of their 
men, which were dug up, and one of them was known to be the 
bold Paugus, who had been a great scourge to Dunstable. 

This encounter resulted in the course of a few years in the 
grant by Massachusetts authority of the township of Suncook, 
or Lovewell's township, to the survivors and to the heirs of those 
who had perished of Captain Lovewell's heroic company. With 
Rumford this township conflicted with the township of Bow and 
the matter was not settled until the incorporation of Pembroke, 



l62 HISTORY OF NEW HAMI'SHIRE. [1726 

many years after, and the grantinsr of another township within 
the district of Maine. 

Early in the year 1725, Theodore Atkinson, joined with two 
commissioners from Massachusetts, visited the French governor 
at Montreal and entered a formal protest against his encourag- 
ing the Indians in the war. He denied the responsibility, but 
admitted having much influence with them ; and brought about 
a meeting of some of the chiefs with the commissioners. Upon 
their return to New England, by way of Crown Point and Albany, 
under escort to the frontiers, they brought sixteen captives whom 
they had ransomed, and made arrangements for the ransom of 
others. 

The last attack of the Indians during the war was upon a 
party in Dover. Benjamin and William Evans were killed. 
John Evans was wounded, scalped and left for dead, but re- 
covered, and lived fifty years after. The attacking party eluded 
pursuit, and took Benjamin Evans, Jr., a lad of thirteen, captive 
with them to Canada. 

A treaty of peace was brought about in December. 

That New Hampshire escaped with so little loss during this 
war is attributed to the fact that the fury of the enemy was di- 
rected to the destruction of the eastern settlements, and because 
the men of the whole Province, by training, had become veterans, 
soldiers, and scouts. 

In May, 1726, the governor and council appointed Nathaniel 
Weare, Theodore Atkinson and Richard Waldron, Jr., a commit- 
tee to warn off the settlers at Penacook ; a commission promptly 
attended to, for they reported the same month that they had 
visited the locality known as Penacook, where they had found 
forty men clearing the land and laying out a town. In April, the 
Lieutenant-Governor, John Wentworth, addressed the General 
Assembly, held at Portsmouth, stating the case, and called for 
supplies to press upon the home government the need of deter- 
mining the boundary of the Province adjoining the Massachusetts 
colony. The Assembly voted ^lOO to Mr. Agent Newman, for 
him " to prosecute and endeavor a speedy settlement of the lines 
between this Government and that of the Mass." 



1726] ROYAL PROVINCE. 163 

The township of Rye, taken from Poitsmcnith, Greenland, and 
Hampton, was incorporated in 1726. It was settled as early as 
1635, and for many years it was known as Sandy Beach. The 
inhabitants having been obligetl to attend religious services in 
neighboring towns, had at length built a meeting house of their 
own, in 1725, and demanded and received a town charter the 
following year. They had suffered, in common with adjoining- 
towns, by the depredations of the Indians during the forty years 
of alternate war and peace preceding their incorporation. 

Rev. Nathaniel Merrill was settled in 1726; Rev. Samuel 
Parsons, in 1736 ; Rev. Huntington Porter, in 1784, who 
preached his half century sermon in 1835. He died in Lynn 
in 1844, aged nearly eighty-nine years. 

The first settlers of the town were of the names of Berry, 
Seavey, Rand, Brackett, Wallis, Jenness and Locke. 

The Puritans were distinguished for their large families ; and 
the older settlements, near tide-water, in the course of several 
generations, had become crowded. The young men viewed 
with envy the prosperity of the Scotch-Irish new comers. Why 
should not they receive land for actual settlement as well as 
aliens and strangers .' Had not their fathers and grandfathers 
done good service in the various Indian wars.' Many petitions 
were sent to the Gi'cat and General Court of Massachusetts, 
claiming grants on a multitude of pretexts. This northern part 
of the colony was even then in dispute, and might at any time, 
by decision of the home government, be decided to be within 
the limits of the Royal Province of New Hampshire. 

The township of Penacook was granted by Massachusetts, 
January 11, 1725, to Benjamin Stevens, Ebenezer Eastman and 
others, and included seven miles square. Settlement was com- 
menced the following year In 1727, Captain Ebenezer East- 
man moved his family into the place. In 1728, the south boun- 
daries of the town were extended, as an equivalent for lands 
within the limits before granted to Governor Endicott, and 
claimed by heirs of Judge Sewall. 

The first settlers of the plantation of Penacook were carefully 
selected men. brave, lavv-al)iaing. God-fearing, chosen from 



164 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIKE. [1726 

among their fellows by a committee of the court, to establish a 
model community. They came to stay. Very many of the 
first families are represented by their descendants to this day. 
They laid out wide and beautiful Main street substantially as it 
is now; they divided the land into home lots and farms, cleared 
away the forest trees, built log-houses at first (which were soon 
replaced by frame buildings, some still standing), and a meeting- 
house. Their plantation was incorporated, under the name of 
Rumford, in 1733. They built several garrison-houses for the 
protection of their families, for an Indian war broke out soon 
after the settlement was effected. For a number of years this 
was a frontier post, e.xposed to the attacks of the savages. Of 
a Sunday their minister would go into the pulpit, armed with 
the best gun in the parish, and preach to a congregation armed 
and equipped to repulse a possible Indian surprise. Men went 
to their work in the fields with an armed escort. 

^The First Congregational Church in Fenacook or Rumford 
•or Concord was organized in November, 1730. The proprietors 
•oi the town, at a meeting in Andover, Mass., in February, 1726, 
voted to build a block-house, which should serve the double pur- 
pose of a fort and a meeting-house. Early in 1727, the first 
family moved into the town, and Rev. Bezaleel Toppan was 
employed to preach one year from May. Mr.Toppan and Rev. 
Enoch Coffin, both proprietors of the town, were employed by 
the settlers to preach till October, 1730, when it was resolved 
to establish a permanent ministry. Rev. Timothy Walker was 
at once called to be the minister of the town. 

He was a native of Woburn, Mass., and a graduate of Har- 
vard College, in the class of 1725. He died suddenly, on 
Sabbath morning, in September, 1782, aged seventy-seven years, 
deeply mourned by the people he had so faithfully served and 
led, and between whom and himself the mutual attachment had 
remained strong to the last. 

The deep impress of this early ministry has never been 
effaced, and the influence of Mr. Walker, to a large degree, 
decided the moral tone and habits of the town. For more than 



1726] KOVAL PKOVI.NXE. 1*^5 

half a century he directed the thouglit, and was the religidiis 
teicher of the early settlers ; and his clear convictions, his bold 
utterances, and his firm adherence to practical principles, made 
him a wise leader. He served the town as well as the church. 
His wise counsel and prompt and judicious action ni relation to 
every matter of public in.terest were 'if great benefit to the 
people, and gciv ■ him a wide and acknowledged influence. Three 
times he visited England, as agent for the town, to confirm its 
endangered rights, and was enabled by his personal influence 
and wisdom to make secure forever the claims and privileges of 
the settlers. His influence will be acknowledged, and his name 
remembered with gratitude by future generations. His daugh- 
ter married Benjamin Thompson, afterwards Count Rumford, 
and was the mother of the Countess of Rumford. 

The fiist meeting-house of Concord was built of logs, in 
1727, and served as a fort an J a place of worship. It stood near 
West's brook, and was occupied by this chui'ch twenty-three 
years. The second house was that so long known as the " Old 
North." The main body of the house was built in 1751. In 
1783 it was completed with porches and a spire, and in 1802 
enlarged so as to furnish sittings for twelve hundred people, and 
a bell was placed in the tower. Central in its location, it was 
for a long time the only place of public worship in the town, 
and was used by t!ie Church for ninety years. It served the 
State also. In tliis house the Convention of 178S met " to form 
a permanent plan of go\-crnment for the State." Here, with 
religious services, in 1784, the new State Constitution was first 
introduced, and here, too, in June, 17S8, the Federal Constitu- 
tion was adopted, b\' which New Hampshire became one of the 
States of the Union. This was the ninth State to adopt that 
Constitution, the number required to retider it operative ; so 
that, by this vote, it became binding upon the United States. 
After another church edifice was built this was used hv the 
"Methodist Biblical Institute" till 1866. When it was de- 
stroyed by fire, in November, 1870, there jjassed from sight 
the church building which had associated with it more of 
marked and precinus history than with any other in the State. 



1 66 



IIISTIIKV (II- Nl:\V UAMPSIIlKr 



[1727 



The third house of worshiii was dedicated in iS^2and I'lirned 
I 1873. The present house of worship was dedicated in 1876. 




FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT CONCORD. 

From the parent cluirch liave been separated the South church 
and the churches at East and West Concord. To Mr. Walker 



l/2y] KOVAL PROVINCE. I67 

succeeded Rev. Israel I'Lvans, a chaplain in the continental army, 
Rev. Asa McFarland, Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, D. D., the State 
historian, and the present pastor, Rev. Franklin D. Ayer, D. D. 

Concord was incorporated by New Hampshire, June 7, 1765. 

1 So great was the security felt by the settlers at the close of 
Lovewell's war, that they emigrated into the wilderness in every 
direction. The first settlement in that part of West Dunstable 
known as Witch Brook Valley was made about the year 1728 
by Caleb Fry, according to a copy of an original draft or plan 
of the township of Dunstable by Jonathan Blanchard, dated June, ' 
1720. This plan is now in a tolerable state of preservation, to 
be seen at the office of the Hillsborough county registry of deeds 
at Nashua. Mr. Fry held a land grant west of Timothy Rogers's 
grant, lying on the west of Penichuck pond, and embraced 
nearly all the territory now included in District No. 8 in the town 
of Hollis, lying west of the school-house. According to tradi- 
tion, he came from Andover, was a son of James Fry, who was a 
soldier in the Narragansett war of 1676, and a brother of James 
Fry, of Andover, one of the grantees of Souhegan West, after- 
wards called Amherst. 

That Mr. Fry was the first one to occupy his own land grant 
in all this section is evident from the fact that he built a turn- 
ing mill, and operated it a number of years. This mill was sit- 
uated on the Little Gulf brook, east side of Ridge hill, so called, 
about twenty rods south of the road at the Spaulding place, in 
the north part of Hollis. At a short distance easterly from 
this mill is still to be seen the place of an old cellar-hole, indi- 
cating that a dwelling once stood there. It was on this spot 
in the wilderness that Mr. Fry erected his log-hut. It is evident 
that he cultivated a piece of land, and set out thereon three 
apple-trees, one of which is now standing, and in bearing con- 
dition, over one hundred and fifty years old, and is the largest 
apple-tree in the town of Hollis. Mr. Fry also manufactured 
wooden ware, and was employed a portion of the time in trap- 
ping. At what time he left is unknown, but it was before 1746. 

The early landmarks have disappeared, and it is not easy to 

* C. S. Spaulding. 



i6S HisioKV vv m:w iiamtsiiike. [^7-7 

reproduce the scenes in which they planted their habitations. 
To men employed in subjugating the forests, fighting wild men 
and wild beasts, clearing lots, and making paths, there was no 
leisure, and little disposition, to make records of their doings. 

The survivors of Captain John Lovewell's expedition to Pig- 
wacket petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts for the 
grant of a township as a recompense for their sufferings, and 
received the grant of Suncook, or " Lovewell's Township." 

Meanwhile the authorities of the Province of New Hampshire 
had jealously watched the proceedings of the Massachusetts 
Ba)' people. The township of Bow was incorporated May 20, 
1727, conflicting with the grants of Penacook and Suncook. 
The township was laid out January 28, 1728-g, b)' Andrew 
Wiggin, William Moor, and Edward Fifield. 

April 5, 1725, Colonel Tyng, in command of a scouting party 
ascending the Merrimack valley to Lake Winnipiseogee, reported 
meeting a company of "Irish," who were located on and occupy- 
ing the lands on the intervale about the village of East Concord. 
They had built a fort for protection against the savages. Later 
they were dislodged from those fair fields and forced to mov^e 
on. Previous to the granting of Epsom, in May, 1727, certain 
Scotch-Irish families, from Londonderry, had settled within that 
territory. It is probable that the fruitful and fertile lands of 
Lovewell's township had been thoroughly examined by these 
hardy pioneers before it was granted by either Province. They 
were not allowed to purchase land in Penacook ; the proprietor 
forfeited his right if he sold to one of the race. No such re- 
striction kept them from purchasing the rights of the proprietors 
of Suncook, or Lovewell's township ; and a fair field was opened 
for their settlement. 

There is reason to believe that the first movement toward a 
settlement of Suncook was in the summer of 1728. It was the 
custom of the young men to start early in the spring for the 
newly-granted wild lands, build a rude log shanty for temporary 
shelter, and proceerl at once to clear away the forest growth 
from their lots. The a.xe and fire-brand were the means em- 
ployed. Not uiifrequcntly the crop of the first season nearly 



1729] KOVAI. PKOVINXE. 169 

paid for the land. After the harvest the toilers would return 
to a more settled community in which to pass the winter. 

Tradition asserts that Francis Doyne and his wife were the 
first white inhabitants who ever wintered in the township, 
172S-9, and they may be said to have been the first permanent 
settlers. Their log hut is said to have been located about in 
the middle of the field west of Pembroke street, just north- of 
the road leading toward Garvin's falls. After a severe snow- 
storm they were visited by a party from Penacook, who were 
anxious as to their safety, and were found in a roughly-built 
cabin, comfortable, contented, and protected against the incle- 
mency of the weather. Doyne was one of Captain Lovewell's 
soldiers. During the same summer, 1728, the property was 
probably visited, both by many of the original grantees, tlieir 
heirs, and others wanting to purchase. The amount of work 
accomplished during this first year towards effecting a perma- 
nent settlement is unknown ; but there is reason to believe that 
the active settlement was undertaken during the summer of 
1729. Land certainly was not at a premium at that time, 
when the right to three hundred and sixty-five acres, with the 
chance of drawing the best lands in the township, was sold for 
twenty-four pounds. As silver was reckoned at twenty shillings, 
or one pound, to the ounce then, the land brought but six and a 
half cents for an acre. 

In a general sense the settlers of the township displaced the 
Indians, but no particular tribe is known to have occupied the 
territory save as a hunting-ground and fishing rendezvous. The 
name of one Indian only has come down to us as having any 
connection with the place, and his record is very traditional and 
vague. Plausawa, in whose honor the hill in \(jrth Pembroke 
is named, is said to have had his wigwam in that locality. With 
his comrades, Sabatis and Christi, he was a frequent visitor to 
this and neighboring sections, until war was declared, when he 
cast his lot with the St. Francis tribe. The three are charged 
with having led or instigated the attack upon Suncook and Ep- 
som in after years. During a cessation of hostilities, Plausawa 
and Sabatis were killed while on a friendly visit to Poscawen, 
in 1753. 



IILSTDKV OK NEW IIAMPSHIKE. 



['730 



Lovewell's township, or Suncook, was a frontier town for 
many years after its settlement. That it suffered no more dur- 
ing the contest was owing to the fact that its young men were 

constantly on the scout toward the encmv. 




The settlers were the Puritans, from the old Bay Colony ; the 
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, from the settlement of London- 



IJJOj KOVAI, rUON'lN'CE. IJI 

derry ; and, lastly, the New Hampshire settlers from the neigh- 
borhood of Exeter, Dover and Kingston, who came in later under 
Bow titles. Truly the town was not homogeneous. A French 
family was the first to locate in town, and several Welsh families 
settled there later. 

The inroad of settlers in 1730 was probably rapid. The 
i;iants of the forest fell before the woodman's axe, and the log 
cabin was rendered homelike by the presence of women and 
■children. The few scattering Indians remaining in the neigh- 
borhood were indifferent or friendl)-, and doubtless the settlers 
received occasional calls from them. 

The log houses built by the pioneers of the last century have 
been replaced by framed buildings, but they may still be seen 
in the logging camps of Grafton and Coos counties, and in all 
new countries. In summer the life 'was not unpleasant ; the 
river teemed with shad, salmon, and trout ; the deer and the 
bear wandered in the neighboring forests ; the virgin soil yielded 
wonderful harvests. Their fare was simple, but with prudence 
iind foresight one could provide for the family during the long 
winter months, with ordinary exertion. Fuel was at their very 
doors, to be had for the chopping, and pitch pine knots answered 
for candles and gas. 

Wolves, lean and hungry, might howl about their safely 
barred windows, but could not enter their dwellings ; nor could 
the cold affect them, with logs hospitably piled in the open fire- 
place. The Bible and New England Primer might form tlieir 
thoroughly read library, but tradition was a never failing source 
of interest to them 

James Moore probably erected his house this year, said to 
have been the first framed building in the townsliip, and the 
frame to-day forms a part of Samuel Emery JMoore's house. 
Neighbors from Buckstreet and Concord assisted at the raising, 
and a few Indians are said to have helped. Tradition asserts 
that one of the latter was worsted in a friendly contest and trial 
■of strength, usual from time immemorial on such occasions, and 
became very angry at his overthrow, threatening vengeance. 
His wrath was appeased by a ]")otation from a brown jug which 



1/2 



1II.^T(,U;V OF NEW liAMPSIlIKi:. 



[1730 




".: 



JT 











il'^fe-vr-^ ''i-^ 






Note. Very early in the Suncook records is a mention of a conflict between the Orthodox and 
Presbyterian churches. By the former Rev. Aaron Whttemore was settled as the minister uf the 
parish, the latter entering a formal protest. At the time of his settlement the Presbyterians were in 
a majoiity in the township; but absent grantees, residents in Massachusetts, claimed the right of 
voting by proxy, and maintained control of the political and reli^ous affairs of the town. 

Rev. Aaron Whittemore was a graduate of Harvard College, 
taiued a leading position in the affairs of Suncook and Pembroke, 
war his house was garrisoned by an armed force, and he had ; 
prominent families in the State trace back their ancestry to hii 
numerous and influential. Among them are the Kittredges and Woodmans, besides the \Vhittemores 
scattered throughout the State from Nashua to the Upper Coos. 

Submitting to the inevitable the Presbyterian members of the parish became reconciled; and for 
many years listened to the preaching, and paid their rates towards the support, of Mr. Whittemore. 

The Province line, as determined, must have been to the latter a grievance, for he was a faithful 
son of the Bay Colony and in favor of its laws and institutions. 



ind for a third of a century sus- 
During the French and Indian 
he militia. Many 
nd his descendants are very 



1730] Kt)V.VL i'KO\'l\CE. 173 

had already come into use. Moore was very sagacious in his 
treatment of the Indians, and gained their friendship ; his place 
was avoided by them in after years during the hostilities, 
although it was fortified to repel an attack. 

Besides granting the township of Bow, the New Hampshire 
authorities, in 1727, granted Epsom, Barnstead, Chichester, Can- 
terbury and Gilmanton to companies intending to form perma- 
nent settlements, thus extending the frontier out into the interior. 
Epsom and Canterbury were immediately occupied and garri- 
soned later during the French and Indian wars, while the other 
townships were not reclaimed from the wilderness until the re- 
turn of peace. 

Newmarket was cut off from E.xeter in 1727. Rev. John 
Moody was ordained and settled in 1730; Rev. S. Tombs, in 
1794; Rev. James Thurston, in 1800. 

Governor William Burnet assumed the ofifice of chief magis- 
trate of Massachusetts and New Hampshire in July 172S, com- 
ing from New York, where he had acted in the same capacity. 
He was welcomed at Boston by a committee of the council and 
assembly of the Province of New Hampshire, and was after- 
wards granted a regular salary. He died in September, 1729, 
having visited New England but once, and was succeeded by 
Governor Jonathan Belcher. 

Governor Burnet had been very popular in New York, and 
was described by Lieutenant-Governor Wentworth, in one of his 
speeches, as " a gentleman of known worth, having justly ob- 
tained a universal regard from all who have had the honor tt) 
be under his government." He died at the early age of forty- 
one years. 

Belcher, a native of New England, was a merchant of large 
fortune and unblemished reputation. He had spent six years in 
Europe and had been presented at court. " He was graceful in 
his person, elegant and polite in his manners ; of a lofty antl 
aspiring disposition ; a steady, generous friend ; a vindictive, but 
not implacable enemy." ^ 

A controversy soon arose between the new governor and 

' Belknap. 



174 lIISruKV OF NEW IIAMi'.SllIKE. L ' 73^ 

Wciitworth, the lieutenant-governor of the Provinec, on account 
of a letter which Wentworth had written to Governor Shute, 
and all friendly relations between the two ceased. Belcher took 
active measures to express his enmity, curtailing the importance 
and emoluments of the office of lieutenant-governor, to the dis- 
gust and disappointment of Wentworth and liis many friends. 
Wentworth himself did not long survive, but died Dec. 12, 1730, 
at the age of fifty-nine years. 

Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth was the son of Samuel 
and Mary (Benning) Wentworth of New Castle, and the grand- 
son of Elder William Wentworth of Exeter, who signed the 
"combination" in 1639. He was born in June 16, 1672, and in 
early life was a sea-captain. After leaving the sea he was a mer- 
chant, and was reputed a fair and generous dealer. " He was a 
gentleman of good naturcd abilities, much improved by conver- 
sation ; remarkably ci\il ami kind to strangers ; respectful to 
the ministers of the gospel ; a Un-er of good men of all denomi- 
nations ; compassionate and bountiful to the pbor ; courteous 
and affable to all." Mn February, 1711-12, he was appointed 
a councillor by Queen Anne, in place of Winthrop Hilton, de- 
ceased, and was justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 171 3 
to 171S. He was appointed lieutenant-governor in 1717, and 
held the office until his death. Of his sixteen children, fourteen 
survivetl him, of whom one was Benning Wentworth and another 
the wife of Theodore Atkinson. 

The course pursued by Governor Belcher was resented by the 
friends of Wentworth and the opposition was led by Benning 
Wentworth and Theodore Atkinson ; but Belcher disregarded 
his opponents and apprehended no danger from their resent- 
ment. 

Mr. Wentworth was succeeded as lieutenant-governor by 
David Dunbar, a native of Ireland, formerly a colonel in the 
l^ritish service, and unfriendly to Governor Belcher. He had 
been commander of the fort at Pemaquid, and upon his appear- 
ance in New Hampshii'c, in 1731, he joined the paity in opposi- 
tion to the governor. Soon after his arrival a petition was sent 

' liilkn.i.). 



173'] KOVAI. I'KOX'I.VCE. I75 

to England, praying for the removal of Governor Belcher, " alleg- 
ing that his government was grievous, oppressive, and arbitrary." 
Richard Waldron, with a party friendly to the governor, drew up 
an address in Belcher's favor, and forwarded it at the same time. 
As a result of letters and petitions, Theodore Atkinson, Benning 
Wentworth, and Joshua Peirce were appointed councillors, but 
being kept out of office for two years, the two former were elected 
to the Assembly, where they maintained their opposition. 

Dr. Belknap is of the opinion that it was the design of Gov- 
ernor Belcher to effect a union of New Hampshire with Massa- 
chusetts ; but the people could not be brought to ask for it. 
The opposition favored a government entirely distinct from 
Massachusetts. The chief trouble which they encountered was 
the poverty and limited area of the Province, and so they ad- 
vocated its enlargement. They were in favor of determining" 
the boundary lines of the Province, which the governor and his 
friends were by no means an.xious to settle. The New Hamp- 
shire authorities became more zealous to have the line deter- 
mined than Massachusetts, although they realized that it would 
not greatly benefit them personally, as the territory would either 
revert to the King, to again grant, or become the property of 
the heirs of Mason and Allen. 

The governor, as obliged by his instructions, frequently urged 
the settlement of the lines in his speeches ; and a committee 
from both provinces met at Newbury, in the autumn of 1731, to 
arrange the affair ; but the Massachusetts party prevented an 
accommodation ; whereupon the New Hampshire authorities de- 
termined no longer to treat with Massachusetts, but to petition 
the King to decide the controversy. 

Accordingly, in 1732, John Rindge, a merchant of Portsmouth, 
who had influential friends in England, was appointed by the 
Assembly agent for the Province. He visited the old country, 
and presented to the King a petition, requesting the establish- 
ment of the line between the two provinces ; and upon his re- 
turn to America the affair was left to the management of Cap- 
tain John Thomlinson, a merchant of London, a gentleman of 
great penetration, industry and address. This petition, how- 



1/6 IIISTOKV ()!■■ Nl-.W llAMI'SiilKE. [^73- 

-ever, was not entlorscd by the governor or by his council ; but 
was authorized by the iVssembly and the lieutenant-governor. 

Governor Belcher charged Dunbar with being " false, perfidi- 
ous, malicious, and revengeful, a plague to the governor and a de- 
ceiver of the people." The opposition alleged that the governor 
consented at every session of the Massachusetts Assembl)- to 
grants of land within the disputed territory. 

In 1732, a vote of the proprietors of Suncook is the first 
mention in the town records of the Bow controversy. In case 
the claim of Massachusetts was sustained, the right of the gran- 
tees of Suncook would be established ; in case New Hampshire 
obtained jurisdiction, the right to the land would be legally 
vested in the heirs of John Mason. 

Oyster Ri\er, a parish of Dover, was incorporated as Durham 
in 1732. It had been made a parish in 165 1 ; separated in 1675; 
incorporated in 17 16. It had suffered severely during the Indian 
wars, the enemy frequently committing depredations within its 
limits. A church was built in 1655. The first minister, settled in 
the parisli in 1674, was John Russ, who died in 1736, at the age of 
one hundred and eight years. He was also the parish physician. 
Rev. Hugh Adams was settled in 1718 ; Rev. Nicholas Oilman, 
in 1 741 ; Rev. John Adams, in 1748 ; Rev. Curtis Coe, in 1780, 
who was dismissed in 1806. 

The township of Narragansett No. 3, Souhegan West, or Am- 
herst, was granted, in 1733, by Massachusetts. The first settle- 
ment was commenced, in 1734, by Samuel Walton and Samuel 
Lampson and others from Esse.x county. A meeting house was 
built in 1739. The town was incorporated in 1760, as Amherst, 
and upon the organization of Hillsborough County it was made 
the shire town. Milford, in 1794, and Mount Vernon, in 1803. 
were separated from Amherst. A church was organized in 
1 741, and Daniel Wilkins was settled as minister, and continued 
there until his death, in February, 1784. Rev. Jeremiah Bar- 
nard was settled in 1779 ; Rev. Nathan Lord, in 18 16, after- 
wards president of Dartmouth College. 

The township of Contoocook, afterwards Boscawen, was 
granted by Massachusetts in 1733, and a settlement was made 



1/33] KOVAL PROVINCE I77 

the next year by Natlianiel Danforth, Andrew Bohonnon, Moses 
Burbank, Stephen Gerrish and Edward Emery, a colony from 
Newbury, Massachusetts. Soon twenty or thirty families were 
settled within the township. A fort, one hundred feet square 
and ten feet high, was built in 1739, in which the inhabitants 
were obliged to take refuge for a period of twenty-two years. 
Rev. Phinehas Stevens was settled as minister in 1737, and a 
meeting house was built the next year, as large as that at Rum- 
ford and " two feet higher." Mr. Stevens was succeeded, in 
1761, by Rev. Robie Morrill ; in 1768, by Rev. Nathaniel Merrill ; 
in 1 78 1, by Rev. Samuel Wood, who continued in the ministry 
for over fifty years. The town was incorporated in 1760, and 
named in honor of Admiral Boscawen. 

Settlements were pushed up the valley of the Connecticut as 
far as Charlestown soon after 1735, in which year that town, by 
the name of No. 4, was granted by Massachusetts to the citizens 
of Northampton, Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield and Sunderland. 
The fifst settlers were several families by the name of Parker, 
Farnsyvorth, Sartwill from Groton, Hastings from Lunenburg, 
and Stevens from Rutland. In 1743 a fort was built, under the 
direction of Colonel Stoddard of Northampton ; and the first 
mills were erected the following year. The town was temporarily 
abandoned by the inhabitants in 1 747, on account of the Indian 
war, but a garrison was stationed at the fort as a protection 
to the frontiers. Charlestown was incorporated in July, 1753. 
Rev. John Dennis was settled as minister in 1754; Rev. Bulkley 
Olcott, in 1761 ; Rev. Jaazaniah Crosby, in i8io; Rev. J. De 
F. Richards, in 1841 ; Rev. Worthington Wright, in 1851. 

In the meanwhile, the relations between Governor Belcher 
and his lieutenant-governor, Dunbar, were not of an amicable 
character. Dunbar had no seat in the council, and was de- 
prived of command of the fort at New Castle, and as many of 
his perquisites as possible, by the governor. In anger, Dunbar 
retired to his fort at Pemaquid, where he remained two years, 
Upon his return, he was treated with less severity by the 
governor. 

Dunbar, in his office of surveyor-general of the King's woods, 



178 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['737 

was frequently arbitrary in his dealings with the people upon 
the Piscataqua, and incurred their enmity. At Exeter, while 
enforcing some of his obnoxious regulations, he was set upon by 
a force disguised as Indians, and, together with his party, re- 
ceived rough usage. They were obliged to tramp back to 
Portsmouth, as their boat was rendered unserviceable. For this 
offence he could receive no legal redress, as his assailants were 
unknown. As a retaliation, he ordered that courts should be 
holden only at Portsmouth, instead of at E.xeter, Dover, and 
Hampton, as formerly. He was caressed by the opponents of 
Belcher, and, in 1737, went to England to prosecute his design 
of creating New Hampshire into an independent province, of 
which he desired to obtain control. Disappointed in his ambi- 
tion, he accepted an office offered by the East India Company, 
and was appointed governor of St. Helena. 

The trade of the Province at this time consisted chiefly in 
the exportation of lumber and fish to Spain and Portugal, and 
the Caribbee Islands. The mast trade was wholly confined to 
Great Britain. In the winter, small vessels went to the south- 
ern colonies with English and West India goods, and returned 
with corn and pork. Woollen manufacture was diminished, as 
sheep were scarce, but the manufacture of linen had greatly in- 
creased by the emigration from the north of Ireland, ^ 

In 1732, an Episcopal church was organized at Portsmouth, 
and a chapel built, which was consecrated in 1734 ; and two years 
later. Rev. Arthur Brown was settled as their minister, with a 
'salary from the " Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts." In 1735, the Province was visited with a new epidemic, 
known as the throat distemper ; and of the first forty who had 
it none recovered. It first appeared at Kingston. In the 
whole Province not less than one thousand persons died of the 
disease, of whom some nine hundred were children. Over two 
hundred died at Hampton Falls, and over one hundred at 
Exeter, Kingston, and Durham. 

In 1737, the settlers at Suncook bargained with John Coch- 
ran of Londonderry to erect a saw-mill and a grist-mill on the 

■ Belknap. 



1737] KOVAI. I'K()\IN-CE. 179 

Suncook river, and agreetl to deed to him lot No. i, which 
embraced the compact part of the present village of Suncook, 
in the town of Pembroke. The conditions of the grant he evi- 
dently complied with, for the deeds of all property within th^it 
area can be traced to him. 

In accordance with a vote the first road to Rumford was laid 
Out. It led diagonally across the lots, very directly from the 
first meetinghouse, built in 1733, at the north-east corner of the 
cemetery, over intervening land to the bridge over the Sou- 
cook, thence by the river bank to the great bend in the Merri- 
mack, where a ferry was early established, about a mile below 
the lower bridge in Conctird, and nearly as far above the rail- 
road bridge. 

A bounty of sixpence a tail was voted for every rattlesnake 
killed in the township. 

The north and east part of the town was then a wilderness, 
covered by the primeval forest. The Suncook settlers, for the 
most part, were on the home lots, which were on each side of 
what is now Pembroke street. Their meadow lots, on the Sun- 
cook, Merrimack and Soucook rivers, were reached by winding 
paths through the forest, and were valuable to the pioneers 
from the wild grass that grew upon them. The intervale lots 
along the Merrimack are said to have been open at the first 
settlement, from inundations of the river, or kept so by the 
Indians, the former occupants of the land, as corn fields. 

An old man once said that the pioneers settled on high land, 
not on account of its fertility, but to avoid the trails of the 
savages, which were made by the river bank ; that the Indians 
would never turn from their march to do malicious injui'y, 
except when on the war path ; and because from an elevation 
the clearings could be better protected by a stockade and 
garrison house. 

Thomlinson, the agent of New Hampshire in England, was 
indefatigable in his efforts in behalf of the little Province. It 
was greatly due to him that the chapel was built at Portsmouth, 
and that a minister was settled over the parish. Through his 
instrumentality, commissioners from among the councillors of 



l80 HISTORY OF NEW UAIM PSIl IKK. [1/37 

New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Nova Scotia, all 
from royal governments except those from Rhode Island, and 
with that colony Massachusetts had a controversy respecting 
boundaries, were appointed to adjudicate the dispute on boun- 
dary line. The commissioners, three from Nova Scotia, and 
five from Rhode Island, met at Hampton, August i, 1737. 
Here they were met by a committee of the New Hampshire 
Assembly, who presented the demands of the Province, while 
agents of Massachusetts stated their claims. On the loth of 
August, the General Court of Massachusetts met at Salisbury, 
while the General Court of New Hampshire met at Hampton 
Falls. The latter, however, were fiot united, as the Council 
were of the Massachusetts party, while the Assembly favored 
the New Hampshire pretensions. The commissioners, how- 
ever, could not determine definitely the line between the two 
Provinces, but referred the matter to the King and Council. 
Here the New Hampshire interests were again entrusted to 
Thomlinson, who was a host in himself. Not receiving the nec- 
essary papers from the New Hampshire authorities to prosecute 
their claim, he manufactured such as he thought would be most 
powerful for the benefit of his clients of New Hampshire. 
While the matter was pending, in 1738, Thomlinson bought up 
the Masonian claim to the Province for ^1,000, on his own 
responsibility, in behalf of the New Hampshire Assembly. 

In this appeal. New Hampshire had the advantage of the 
most skilful advocates, who represented the " poor, little, loyal, 
distressed Province of New Hampshire " as crowded and op- 
pressed by the " vast, opulent, overgrown Province of Massa- 
chusetts ; " and New Hampshire won the case. The question 
was settled by his Majesty, in council, March 5, 1740, and the 
present southern and eastern boundary of New Hampshire was 
established. Many townships granted by Massachusetts were 
found to be without the jurisdiction of the Province that had 
granted their charters, and within a Province governed by differ- 
ent laws, and where the title to the wild land was in dispute. 

This was the more bitter to the inhabitants of the territory 
because of the Masonian claim. This hung over their heads. 



1737] K()\AI, J'KOVINCE. iSl 

ami affected their ownership in the lands which they had 
recovered from a wilderness by years of toil and exposure. The 
Province of New Hampshire gained jurisdiction over a strip of 
land fourteen miles wide, extending its whole width, and was 
supposed to include the present State of Vermont. Twenty- 
eight newly granted townships, between the Merrimack and 
Connecticut rivers, were cut off from Massachusetts and 
annexed to New Hampshire. The latter Province gained seven 
hundred square miles more than the authorities had claimed, 
besides the territory west of the Connecticut river.' 

Kensington was detached from Hampton, and incorporated 
in 1737, when Rev. Jeremiah Fogg was settled as minister over 
the town. He was succeeded, in 1793, by Rev. Napthali Shaw; 
in 18 1 2, by Rev. Nathaniel Kennedy. 

ICivil Engineer Nelson Spoft'ord, of Haverhill, boundary line .surveyor on 
the part of M.issachusetts in the present controversy' with New Hampshire, 
is in receipt of valuable and important copies of maps and other documents 
relative to this subject from the Public Records office of England. 

In 1SS3 Mr. SpofFord made inquiries of Minister Lowell as to the necessary 
proceedings in order to ascertain what documents might be found on record 
relative to the settlement of the boundary line controversy in 1741. 

Mr. Stevens was employed to search the records, and he forwarded to Mr. 
SpofTord a list of twenty-five documents and maps relating to this subject, 
with the cost of copying; and here the matter rested until the Boundary 
Line Commission was organized, in 1SS5, when Mr. Spoft'ord was directed 
to order copies of such documents as might appear to be of the most import- 
ance, but owing to delays from various causes these documents have been 
but recently received. 

The list embraces some three hundred pages foolscap of closely written 
matter, and copies of three maps. Among the documents appear the 
following: 

No. L 
Public Record Office of England. 
Colonial Correspondence Bd. of Trade New England. 
Oreder of the King in Council. 9 April 1740. 
Indorsed, New England, A/assachusei/s Bay Ne-v Hampshire Order of Council 
dated April 9th 1740 directing the Board to prepare an Instruction 
to the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire for 
settling the Bounds of these Provinces pursuant to a report of the 
Committee of Council. 

At the Court of St. James the 9th. April 1740 

Present 

The K'UL's mos: EKcellant .".r,i;..-~(v in Council 



l82 IlISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [^737 

iV/icrecif: His Majesty was this day pleased by his order in Council, to 
signify liis approbation of a Report made by the Lords of the Committee in 
Council upon the respectiye Appeales of the Provinces of the Massachusetts 
Bay and New Hampsliire for tlie Determination of the Commissioners — ap- 
pointed to settle tlie Boundarjs between the said Provinces, and to direct in 
what manner the said Boundarys should be settled, and also to require the 
Governor and the respective Councils and Assemblys of the said Provinces 
to take especial care to carry His Majestys commands thereby signified into 
due execution. as by a copy of the said Order hereto annexed may more fully 
appear. And His Majesty being desirous to remove all further pretence for 
continuing the Disputes which have subsisted for many years between the 
said Provinces on Account of the said Boundary, and to prevent any dehiy 
in ascertaining the Boundary pursuant to the said order in Council, Doth 
Hereby Order that the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations do 
prepare the Draught of such an instruction as they shall conceive proper to 
be sent to tlie Governor of those Provinces, for enforcing the due execution 
of the said order and requiring him in the strongest ternis to cause His 
Majestys Commands in tliis behalf to be executed in the most effectual and 
expeditious manner, to the end that his Majestys Intentions for promoting 
the Peace and Qjiiet of the said Provinces, may not be frustrated or delayed. 
And thev are to lay the said Draught before the Right Honorable the Lords 
of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs. — 

(Signed) Temple Stanyan 

No. n. 
Order of Committee of Council 9 April 1741 
Indorsid (with petitions) Massachusetts Oreder ol the Lords of ye Com- 
mittee of Council dated ye 9th of April 1741 referring to this board ye 
Petition of Thomas Hutchinson of Boston Esq. praying his Majesty 
to direct that the several Line Townships which by the Line directed 
to be run by his Majestys Order in Council of ye 9th April 1740 will 
be cut off from the Province of Massachusetts Bay may be united to 
that Province. 
At the Council Chamber Whitehall 

the 9th. of April 1741 By the Right Honorable the Lords of the 
Committee of Council for Plantation Afl'airs. 

His Majesty, having been pleased by his order in Council of the 9th of 
February last, to refer unto this Committee the humble petition of Thomas 
Hutchinson of Boston in his Majesty Province of Massachusetts Bay Esqr. 
humbly praying that His Majesty will be graciously pleased to direct that 
the several Townships, commonly known by the name of the line townships. 
which by the Line directed to be run by his Majestys Order in Council of the 
9th of April 1740, will be cut off from the said Province of Massachusetts 
Bay may be United in tliat Province — The Lords of the Committee this day 
took the said petition, together with several others thereto annexed, from the 
said Township into Consideration, and are hereby pleased to refer the same 



1737] ROVAL PROVINCE. 183 

to tlie Lords Comnussioners for Trade and Plantations, to examine into tlie 
said Petitions, and report their Opinion tliereupon to this Committee 

(Signed) Temple Stanyan. 

Benning Wentuorth to the Board of Trade Sth December 1742 
Indorsed New Hampshire Letter from Mr. Wentworth Governor of New 
Hampshire to the Board, dated Portsmouth \e Sth December 1742 

Referring to the petitions of the inhabitants who had without their consent 
been summarily transferred from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts to that of 
New Hampshire, and who had petitioned the King to be returned to Massa- 
chusetts, Wentworth says, — 

And unless it should be His Majesty's pleasure to put an end to Applications 
of this Nature, It will be impossible for me to carry his Royal Instructions 
into Executi on. 

New Hampshire sits down bv liis Majesty's determination, and has showed 
the greatest obedience thereto by paying the whole expense of running and 
marking out the boundaries in exact conformity to the royal deter- 
mination, and therefore thinks it a great hardship that Massachusetts should 
lead them into any new charge, in a dispute that had subsisted near four 
score years, and which has been so solemnly determined. 

And it inay be added here, also, that the legislature of New Hampshire 
supplemented the above appeal of Governor Wentworth with a prayer to the 
King, never, under any circumstances, to admit of the slightest infraction 
of the boundary line, thus determined and established according to his royal 
will and pleasure ; and to the credit of that Province and State it may also 
be stated here that that work, the boundary line as then established and recorded, 
has never been called in question by either, and the State has never gone back 
on her own record 

Jonathan Belcher to the Board of Trade. 
7 May 1 741. 
Indorsed Massachusetts, new Hampshire Letter from Mr. Belcher Governor 
of New England, dated at Boston ye 7th of May 1741, concerning a difficulty, 
arisen upon ye construction of His Majesty's Judgment respecting ye Bounda- 
ries betwixt ye Province of Massachusetts Bay and that of New Hampshire. 

This isavery important document, and, as will be seen, effectually disposes 
of all claims New Hampshire may have been supposed to have to a slice of 
Massachusetts, and forms a very valuable and important State paper. 

In connection with these documents, Mr. Spofford has also received copies 
of three very important and valuable maps relating to the boundary line con- 
troversy of 1741. 

No. I is a map of Merrimack river and the boundary line at three miles 
distant on the north side thereof, by George Mitchell, surveyor. This map 
is about 18x24 inches, and bears the following inscription on the upper left 
hand corner, enclosed in scroll work: 



184 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 11737 

To 
His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esqr. 
Captain General V Commander in Chief over His Majesty's Province of New 
Hampshire 
This map is humbly inscribed by 
His Excellencys 
Most Obdt. Servt. 

George Mitchell Surv'r. 
And immediately under this we find the following note : 

By Lines drawn on the North side of ye River there is as much land as 
water, which have their corresponding parallels at three miles distance ; but 
as ye Sudden Bends renders it impracticable to come up to the Truth, the dif- 
ference is divided equally in General. 

In the lower left hand corner is the following note : 

Received April 20th, with Governor Wentworth's Letter dated at Portsmouth 
in New Hampshire 6th March i'/^ik.2 

In the lower right hand corner is tlie title enclosed in scroll work. 
A MAP 
Of the River Merrimack 
from the Atlantick Ocean 
to Pawtucket Falls de- 
scribing Bounds between 
His Majesty's Province of 
New Hampshire and the 
Massachusetts Bay, agree- 
able to His Majestys Or- 
der in Council 1741 
On the back of the map we find the following sworn statement : 
George Mitchell makes Oath, that this survey made by him of the River 
Merrimack, from the mouth of said River to Pawtucket Falls, is true and exact 
to the best of his skill and knowledge, and that the line described in the plan 
is as conformable to His Majestys determination in Council, as was in his 
power to draw, but finding it impracticable to stick to the letter of said deter- 
mination, has in some places taken from one Province, and made ample allow- 
ance for the same in the next reach of the River. 
Portsmouth. New Hampshire. March Sth, 1741. 
George Mitchell, 

Sworn C Jothani Odiorne ") fus. 

1' " \oi the 

before [ H. Sherburne J Peace 

Thus it will be seen that Mitchell was no tool or emissary of Belcher's, but 
he drew the boundary line according to his interpretation of the King's De- 
cree, as it appears from examination of the map that he surveyed the river, 
made his plan, and then proceeded to lay off a strip of land three miles wide 
on the north side thereof. This he did by first drawing straight lines along 



1737] KOVAL PROVINCE. 185 

the north shore of the river, passing so as to take one half of the river into 
his estimate, proiectini; these lines from the ocean to Pawtucket falls, and then 
draws the boundary line at three miles distance from these straight lines. 
Consequently no part of his line appears on the south side of the river. 
Mitchell does not seem to have understood the gymnastics of modern survey- 
ing. 

This map shows no small degree of artistic ability in the surveyor who pro- 
jected it, so much so that Mr. SpofFord already has applications for copies 
from parties interested in works of this description. 

But this map not only indicates a superior draughtsman, but a remarkably 
skilful and accurate surveyor. 

His plan of the river, reduced by pantograph to the scale of the map accom- 
panying the recent report of the New Hampshire Commissioners to the leg- 
islat\ire of that Stats, shows the survey to have been made and platted with a 
wonderful degree of accuracy. 

This latest survey and plan were executed with the very best of modern ap- 
pliances, by a skilful and experienced surveyor but recently from the United 
States Government survey of the Mississippi river, and neither time nor ex- 
pense was spared to make it as accurate as could be platted on a scale of ^. 500 
feet to one inch ; still, on comparing the latest product of modern skill, it is 
little more than a fiic simile of Mitchell's work done with the rude instru- 
ments of a centurv and a half ago. 

Map No. 3. 
This map is on a sheet about 24x36 inches, and is the work of the same 
surveyor, and executed in the same general style as No. 2. The title reads 
as follows : 

A Plan of the Rivers and Boundary Lines referred to in the Proceedings and 
Judgment to which this is annexed. George Mitchell Surveyor 

Note 

Reed. Dec. 20 17,57, wMth Letter from ye Commissioners for settling the 
Boundary Lines betw-een ye provinces of Massachusetts Bay & New Hamp- 
shire Cenr 79 

Thecommissionof1737.it will be remembered by persons familiar with 
this question, reported in substance as follows: 

That if the second charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay covered 
all the territory tliat the first charter covered, then the line should commence 
at the Atlantic ocean, three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack river, 
and thence running westerly and northerly, keeping at three miles' distance 
from the river to the junction of tlie Winnipiseogee and three miles further 
north, thence due west to his majesty's other dominions; but if it did not, 
then the dividing line should begin at a point three miles north of the Black 
Rocks and thence due west to his majesty's other dominions. Tliese lines 
are all shown on the plan. 

But both parties appealed from this decision, and the matter was carried 
before the King in council. This august body seems to have been run by 



I 86 HISTOk\' ()!■■ iNICW lIAMrsHIKE. [^737 

New Hampshire s paid agent, one George Thomlinson, and the line was estab- 
lished at three miles north of the river to Pawtucket falls, and thence due 
west, etc. This gave New Hampshire some 700 square miles of Massaclui- 
setts more than that Province had ever claimed, consequently her willingness 
to pay all the expenses of running the lines that make the area of that State 
to-day 1,400 square miles larger than Massachusetts. 

These records and maps are not only interesting historical documents, but 
they show past all controversy that the boundary line matter was settled by 
the king's decree, that the execution was served, the land set off, the lines 
run and marked on the ground, the plans returned, accepted and recorded, 
and the whole business executed as perfectly and thoroughly as it was possi- 
ble to fix any division line anywhere at that time. It was all done with the 
cordial assent and concurrence of New Hampshire. Massachusetts protested 
against it, but without avail. The line thus established has been the line ot 
juri.sdiction ever since. Massachusetts set the bounds stones at the angles 
in 1S27 : they are all there to-day, and mark the angles in the line. Mr. Spof- 
ford has run on the ground, and there is not the slightest doubt of its correct- 
ness substantially, and wh}' any person should now suppose for a single mo- 
ment that a boundary line thus established by both parties can be changed at 
the option of one. and without the consent and against the wishes of the in- 
habitants living near it, is a mystery we shall not attempt to solve. 

East Kingston was incorporated in 1738. Rev. Peter Coffin was settled as 
minister the following year and was dismissed in 177^. 

' The Scotch settlers of Londonderry came to this wintry land to have 

'' A faith's pure shrine," 
and 

» " To make a happy fireside clirae 
For weans and wife." 

Tiiey were hard-headed, long-headed, level-headed, uncompromising, uncon- 
quered. and unconquerable Presbyterians. They were of a stern and rugged 
tvpe. They clung to the tenets of the Presbyterian faith with a devotion, con- 
stancy, and obstinacy little short of bigotry, and in it was mingled little of 
that charity foi" others of a different faith " which sufiereth long;" nor is this 
surprising, when we consider the circumstances of their lives, and the stock 
to which they belonged. They were the descendants of a brave and heroic 
race of men and women, who had resisted the encroachments of the " Estab- 
lished Church" of England, risen in opposition to it, and in 1638 entered in- 
to a "solemn league and covenant" to maintain the reformed religion in 
Scotland, and to resist and put down popery and prelacy : hence the name of 
" Covenanter." 

For the preservation of their religious liberty and their form of faith the 
Covenanters had struggled, and fought, and suffered amid the moors and 
mountains and fastnesses of Scotland with a fortitude and heroism unsur- 
passed. Manv laid down their lives to secure its preservation; many strug- 
gled bravelv on during the troubled years, bearing aloft the ensign of their 



1737] ROYAL PROVINCE. iS/ 

f;iith, wliicli tlicv believed to be the only true faith, and their banner the only 
true standard of the cross. 

The foot of the persecutor followed the faithful to Ireland, and there they 
felt the avenging arm of resisted and arbitrary power. Some of those who 
had taken part in the brave defence of Londonderry, Ireland, owned land hert 
which was occupied by their sons. The story of the past, of the conflicts in 
Scotland, the flight to Ireland, the endurance and sufterings and sacrifice: 
and final triumphal the "siege of Derry," were fresh in their memories, 
they were engraven on the tablets of their souls, and the lessons influenceo 
their lives. So the faith of the stern, grim Covenanter was transplanted to 
Londonderry. It took root and flourished on this soil, and grew with r 
strong, steady, and solid growth. The Scotch settlers were a conservativt 
and thinking people, and their institutions were the result of thought. Mani 
of the characteristics, sentiments, and much of the feelings of the Cove- 
iian'crs were here, and these have not entirely died out of their descendants. 
The religious side of the characters of the first residents was largely developed. 

The town of Windham, incorporated in February, 1739, has been stronglv 
orthodox from the beginning. Many families attended meeting at what i.s 
now East Derry. After attending to their morningduties, the whole family, — 
men, women, and children, — would walk eight or nine miles to meeting, 
listen to two long sermons, and then return to- their homes, seldom reaching 
them until after dark. So they prized the sanctuary, and appreciated and 
dearly loved the faith in whicli tliey trusted. 

The first religious meetings were holden in barns during the warm season 
for eleven years, when, in 1753, the first meeting house was built, on a high 
elevation south-east of Cobbett's pond, now known as •■ Cemetery Hill." 

Their Scotch ancestors, exiles from the lochs and glens of Scotland, could 
not forget the customs of the dear old father-land. So they located the burial- 
place of themselves and their kindred in the shadow of the kirk. It is a 
beautiful spot. The lovely lake nestles at the foot of this white-washed hill, 
shimmering with brightness in the suramersun, and in the autumn mirroring 
in its bosom all the beauty of the forest trees. It is a pleasant place on which 
to pitch one's tent after the weary march, when with folded arms the silent 
ones will rest undisturbed till the reveille call at the great awakening. So the 
dead rested near where the living \^■orshipped, where in summer davs, through 
the opened windows which let in the sunshine and the breath of flowers, the 
words as they fell from the lips of the living preacher might be borne by the 
breezes which gently w'aved the grass that grew and the flowers that bloomed 
on the mounds of the peaceful sleepers. 

The first pastor was Rev. William Johnston, who receiveda call to settle 
here in July, 1746. 

The towns cut off from Massachusetts petitioned to be re- 
anne.xed. but their plea was met and successfully combated by 
Thomlinson. " About the same time, Governor Belcher procured 
a petition, from his si.x friends of tiie council of New Hamp- 



IIISTOKV <ll' NKW HAMI'SIHKIC, 



1740 



shire, to the King, praying" that the whole Province might be 
annexed to the government of Massachusetts. This matter had 
been long in contemplation with these gentlemen ; but was now 
produced at the most unfortunate time which could have been 
chosen. Their petition was at once rejected." ' 

The boundary line between the two Provinces was finally 
surveyed and determined in 1741 ; the curved line from the 
ocean to Pawtucket Falls being determined by George Mitchell ; 
the line thence to the Connecticut river being surveyed by 
Richard Hazen ; and the eastern boundary by Walter Bryant. 

The enemies of Governor Belcher in both Provinces finally 
triumphed and accomplished his downfall. He was succeeded 
in Massachusetts by Governor William Shirley, and in New 
Hampshire by Governor Benning Wentworth. 

Governor Belcher was soon after appointed governor of New 
Jersey, where he was held in the highest esteem, and where he 
died in August, 1751, in his seventy-sixth year. In some in- 
stances Governor Belcher was imprudent and unguarded. He 
was zealous to serve his friends, and hearken to their advice. 
He paid no court to his enemies, but openly treated them with 
contempt. His language to them was severe and reproachful. 
He had by far too mean an opinion of their abilities, and the 
interest which they had at court. He had a consciousness of 
the general integrity of his own intentions, and appears to have 
been influenced by motives of honor and justice.^ 




T,5tAT^UU^ GoNOftt 



CHAPTER IX. 

ROYAL PROVINCE, 1 741-1760. 

Governor Bensing Wentvvorth — Wentvvorth Hall — Martha H ilton 

— A Cold Winter — Epping — Windham — Brentwood — French and 
Indian War — Louisbl'rg — Sir William Pepperrell — Pepperrell 
House — William Vaughan — Number Four — Incorporation of 
various Towns — Rumford (Concord) — Wrestling Matches — Old 
Style and New Style — The Bow Case — Coos County — The " Sev- 
en Years' War " — Rogers' Rangers — Rev. John Houston — An Auda- 
cious Reconnaissance — A Fierce Fight in the Woods — John Stark 

— Conc^uest of Canada — Saint Francis Indians — Quebec and 
Montreal — Pontiac and Major Rogers — Rogers House. 

"DENNING WENTWORTH was commissioned governor of 
the royal Province of New Hampsliire in 1741. From the 
graceful pen of Fred Myron Colby is the following tribute to 
his memory : — 

Few names hold more e.xalted rank in the annals of the old 
thirteen colonies than that of Wentvvorth. The progenitor of 
our colonial family was William, a cousin of the ill-fated chan- 
cellor of Charles the First, who arrived in New Hampshire as 
early as 1640. Benning Wentworth was a great-grandson of 
William. His father was John Wentworth, who was lieu- 
tenant-governor of New Hampshire from 1717 till 1730. The 
son graduated at Harvard, and afterwards was associated with 
his father and uncle in the mercantile business at Portsmouth. 
He several times represented the town in the Provincial As- 
sembly, was appointed a King's councillor in 1734, and finally, 
in 1 741, became the royal governor of the Province. His life 



igo 



HISTORY OF Xr.W HAMPSHIRE. 



[1741 



was long, active and distinguished, and during liis career New 
Hampshire advanced rapidly in wealth and prosperit}-, though 

/; 

///// /' 



'd 










not so fast as the governor did. He laid heavy tribute on the 
Province, and exacted heavy fees for grants of land. He had 



I74>] ROYAL PROVINCE. igi 

the right perhaps. That he was a right brave and distinguished 
looking cavalier, and well fitted to lead society at a provincial 
court, his portrait at Wentworth Hall abundantly shows. It 
represents him dressed in the height of fashion, with a long 
flaxen peruke flowing in profuse curls to his shoulders. He has 
a handsome, dignified face, the lips wearing an engaging smile, 
and the air generally of face and figure of one who is " lord of 
the manor." Indeed, there was everything in the career of the 
worthy governor to give him, what in Europe used to be called, 
the "bel air." Fortune had taken him by the hand from the 
very cradle, and some beneficent fairy, throughout all his life, 
seemed to have smoothed away all thorns in his path, and scat- 
tered flowers before him. He died at the age of seventy-four, 
having lived as fortunate and splendid a life as any gentleman 
of his time in the new world. 

Despite its air of grandeur, Wentworth Hall, at Little Harbor, 
is an architectural freak. It is seldom that one will find so 
large a house that is as irregular and straggling as this one is. 
The rambling old pile looks as if it had been put together at 
different periods, and each portion the unhappy afterthought of 
the architect who designed it. It is simply an extension of 
wing upon wing, and this whimsical arrangement is followed up 
in the interior. The chambers are curiously connected by 
unlocked for steps and capricious little passages, that remind 
one of those mysterious ones in the old castles, celebrated by 
the writers of the Anne Radcliffe school. 

It was in 1749 '^hat he commenced to build this mansion, and 
it was completed the ne.xt year. He had been fascinated by 
the beauty of the place, and the magnificent structure which 
rose at his command was worthy of its situation. Where he 
obtained his plan no one knows, but perhaps the irregularity of 
the structure was compensated by the grandeur and sumptu- 
ousness of its adornments. Everything about the mansion was 
on a grand scale. The stables held thirty horses in time of 
peace. The lofty gateways were like the entrance to a castle. 
The offices and out-houses might have done credit to a Kenil- 
worth or a Middleham. As it now stands, girt by its ancestral 



ig2 HISTOUV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. L'74I 

trees, looking out upon the sea, the house seems a patrician of 
the old regime, withdrawing itself instinctively from contact 
with its upstart neighbors. Having an existence of four gener- 
ations and more, a stately, dignified, hospitable home before 
Washington had reached manhood, the Wentworth house may 
claim the respect due to a hale, hearty old age, as well as that 
■due to greatness. 

Few houses in America have had as many illustrious visitors. 
Rooms under its roof have been occupied by Governor Shirley 
of New York, Lord Loudon, commander-in-chief of the British 
forces in America, Sir Charles Knowles, Admiral Boscawen, 
George Whitefield, and other worthies of that period. Stately 
merrymakings have been celebrated in its old halls. 

The first door on the right hand of the hall opens into the 
grand parlor of the old governor, which still retains all of its 
former magnificence. The paper on the walls is the same that 
was put on at the time the mansion was erected, and the carpet 
on the floor was put there by Lady Wentworth more than 
eighty years ago. 

In this room, surrounded by the wondering invited guests of 
the governor, was consummated the marriage ceremony which 
Longfellow has celebrated in his " Tales of a Wayside Inn," 
between Wentworth and his chamber-maid. It was something 
of a change for Martha Hilton. She was a girl of matchless 
beauty, but very poor. When young she had scandalized her 
neighbors by glimpses of bare ankles as she promenaded in 
scant costume. A puritanic dame one time remonstrated with 
the maiden in rather severe terms for exhibiting so much of her 
beauty. But Martha answered not abashed, " Never mind how 
I look ; I yet shall ride in my own chariot, ma'am." It was a 
true prophecy. After a lapse of years, attracted by her grace, 
her beauty, her wit and good sense, Benning Wentworth offered 
her his hand, and they were married on the governor's si.xtieth 
birthday. 

Around the Council Room are some grand old portraits, thir- 
teen in all. They are all in handsome gilt frames and some of 
them have rare histories, if they could be told. 



KOYAL I'KOX'INCE. 



193 



At the entrance of the Council Chamber are seen the racks 
for the twelve guns, carried when occasion required by the 
o-overnor's guards. In the billiard room, which adjoins this 




apartment, still remains the ancient spinet, now time-worn and 
voiceless, but whose keys have many a time been touched by 



194 uisToKV IIP m;\v hami'siiire. L'74^ 

the jewelled white fingers of aristocratic belles. Washington 
listened to its music once when he visited here in 1790, the 
guest of the hospitable Colonel Wentworth. Here, too, is seen 
in one corner, the old buffet which, in the olden time, has held 
many a full and empty punch bowl. Opening out of the larger 
apartment are little side rooms where illustrious guests. General 
Loudon, Admiral Boscawen, Lord Pepperell and many others, 
have played at cards and other games, until the "wee sma' 
hours." About the whole hall there is a choice venerableness. 

In 1770, Benning' Wentworth breathed his last in the arms of 
his faithful wife. The governor rewarded her care and faithful- 
ness by bequeathing her his entire estate. The great house 
was not long without a master, however. Lady Wentworth, 
after living single about a year, fell into the matrimonial traces 
a*ain, but without changing her name. She outlived her second 
husband several years, and at her death, in 1804, left the old 
mansion to her daughter Martha, whom she had by Colonel 
Michael Wentworth. She was buried beside her first husband, 
in the churchyard of St. John's, in Portsmouth. 

The mansion at Little Harbor continued to be occupied by the 
second Martha Wentworth, who was also a Lady, her husband 
being Sir John Wentworth, until 18 16, when they went to 
England, from whence they never returned. 

The winter of 1741 was famous throughout New England as 
much colder than any which preceded it. Probably no year 
since could furnish testimony for cold either so intense or pro- 
tracted. The snow, which covered the whole country as early 
as the 13th of November, was still found the ne.\t April covering 
the fences. The Boston Post Boy for January 1 2th, reports a tent 
on the Charles River for the entertainment of travellers. The 
Boston Netvs Letter for March 6th, tells us that "people ride 
every day from Stratford, Conn., to Long Island, which is three 
leagues." Even as far east as New London, we are told that 
the " ice extended into the sound as far as could be seen from 
the town ; " and that Fisher's Island was united .to the main- 
land by a solid bed. On March 28th, the Boston News Letter 
reports that the people living on Thompson's Island had crossed 



1 74-] K()\AL ri<o\'i.\'CE. f95 

over to Dorchester to church on the ice for the fifteen preceding 
Sundays. 

As late as the 9th of July, a letter from New London, Conn., 
reports on the east side of the Connecticut river a body of ice 
as large as two carts can draw, clear and solid, and adds very 
artlessly that "it might lay there a month longer, were it not 
that so many resort, out of curiosity, to drink piuich made out 
of it." On the 17th of July snow was still lying in a mass in 
the town of Ipswich, Mass., nearly four feet thick. But the 
most marvellous record of that season is tlie statement made by 
Alonzo Lewis, author of the "Annals of Lynn," Mass., that 
" Francis Lewis, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
drove his horse from New York to Barnstable, the whole length 
of Long Island Sound on the ice." 

Epping was set off from I'lxeter in 1741. Rev. Robert Cut- 
ler was the first minister, settled in 1747. Me was succeeded 
in 1758, by Rev. Josiah Stevens ; in 1793, by Rev. Peter Holt ; 
in 1826, by Rev. Forest Jefferds ; in 1842, by Rev. Calvin 
Chapman; in 1849, ^Y Rev. Lyman White. 

The town has claimed among its distinguished residents, 
General Henry Dearborn, Governor William Plumer, Senator 
John Chandler, William Plumer, Jr., and Governor Benjamin F. 
Prescott. 

The Quakers and Baptists had a foothold in the town ver)' 
early in its history. Jonathan Norris, Joshua P'olsom, and his 
son, Benjamin Folsom, were among the leaders of the former 
society. Among the Baptists, Rev. Dr. Samuel Shepard was a 
preacher for nearly half a century. 

1 Windham, from 1719 to 1742, was a parish of Londonderry, 
a part and parcel of that historic Scotch settlement. 

It is doubtful if any permanent settlements were made till the 
advent of the Scotch in 1719 in the Londonderry colony. The 
first house in Windham was established on Copp's hill, south- 
east of Cobbett's pond, about 1720. Its occupant was John 
Wacldell. In 1721 David Gregg, .son of John Gregg, of London- 
derry, Ireland, and grandson of Captain David Gregg, a Scotch- 



ig6 HISTOKY OF NEW }IAMPSHIKE. [^74- 

man and captain in Cromwell's army, established himself hi the 
west side of the town. He was the uncle of Andrew Gregg, 
member of the U. S. Senate from Pennsylvania, in 1 806-7. 

This David Gregg was joined by Alexander McCoy from the 
highlands of Scotland. In 1723 John Dinsmoor, son of John 
Dinsmoor of Scotland, located near the Junction. In 1728 or 
'29 John Archibald settled in the north part of the town. 

About 1730, Lieut. Samuel Morrison, son of Charter James 
Morrison of Londonderry^ N. H., and grandson of John Morri- 
son of Scotland, settled in the east of the town, in the "Range." 
He was the ancestor of the Morrisons at Windham. 

In 1733, Henry Campbell of Londonderry, Ireland, and the 
grandson of D.micl Campbell of Scotland, settled in the east 
of the town, on Beaver river, and where his descendants 
" live unto this day." About this same date Alexander Simpson 
and Adam Templeton struck for settlement here. 

John Cochran, of Scotch blood, came in 1730, hewed from tlic 
wilderness his farm, upon which his descendants have since 
lived. Alexander Park and John Armstrong appeared soon 
after. 

These are some of the pioneer fathers : William and Robert 
Thompson, Joseph Waugh, Thomas Ouigley, Alexander and 
James Dunlap, Johli Kyle, John Morrow, Hugh Graham, John 
and James Vance, Samuel and William McAdams, James Gil- 
more, Andrew Armour, John Hopkins, Daniel Clyde, William 
Thom, John Stuart, Hugh Brown, Samuel Kinkead, Francis 
Smilie, Alexander Ritchie, William Jameson, Nathaniel Hemp- 
hill, James Caldwell, who were here in early times, and, with 
the exception of William Thom, not a single descendant of any 
of this list, bearing the family name, remains in town to-day. 

Immediately after the first settlement had been made in Lon- 
donderry, near what is now the east village, individuals would go 
from home to the more distant glebes to work in summer, and 
would return in the winter. Many young men lived in this 
manner several years, laboring thus to prepare a home for their 
future companions. When the home was provided they went 
or sent to Scotland, or to the Scotch settlements in Ireland, 



i~4~\ KOVAI. PROVINCE. 197 

tor the brave lass who had consented to cross the wide ocean 
to meet her stern lord in the wilderness, and by her presence 
to cheer, to brighten, and to bless his home and life. 

Land was cheap, and John Hopkins purchased a large tract 
for a web of linen cloth. Neighbors were far apart, oftentimes 
as far as three miles, and it was said, " we were obliged to go 
three miles to borrow a needle, not being able to buy one." 

There were no grist-mills nearer than Haverhill or Andover, 
Mass., so the grain was carried on poles trailed from the horse's 
back. They often broke their corn into meal by placing it be- 
tween two revolving stones, this being a hand-mill called a cairn. 
They lived mainly on what could be raised in the ground. They 
possessed but little wealth, for their lot was like their father- 
land, Scotland, cast in a cold wintr)' land, with a hard and rocky 
soil. 

North Hampton and South Hampton were incorporated in 
1742. 

Brentwood was incorporated in 1742. It was taken from 
Exetei", including the present town of Freemont, and had been 
known as Keenborough. A meeting-house had already been 
built. Rev. Nathaniel Trask was settled as the first minister 
of the place. He was succeeded, in 1 801, by Rev. Ebenezer 
Flint ; in 1S13, by Rev. Chester Colton ; in 1826, by Rev. Luke 
A. Spofford ; in 1831, by Rev. Jonathan Ward ; in 1833, by Rev. 
Francis Welch; in 1839, M' ^^'^'- John Gunnison ; in 1841, by 
Rev. James Bout well ; in 1854, by Rev. Charles Dame. Elder 
Samuel Shepard was settled over a society of Baptists in the 
town in 1775 and continued until his death, in 1816. 

Governor Benning Wentworth had been received at Ports- 
mouth with great marks of popular respect upon the publi- 
cation of his commission in December, 1741. He had been a 
heavy loser by the failure of Spanish officials to meet their obli- 
gations to him, and his claim and other neglected claims of 
English merchants against the Spanish government led to the 
declaration of war on the part of Great Britain to seek redress. 
In his first address to the General Court of New Hampshire he 
"did not forget to recommend a fi.xed salary for himself, not 



I9H Ill.-^IDKN' (II' \l:\\ IIAMP.SLIIKK. [ 1 744 

.subject to depreciation ; luir the payment of expenses which 
liacl arisen on account of the boundary lines." ' 

"The Assembly, in their answer, acknowledged the wisdom 
and justice of the King in determining the long controversv 
between them and Massachusetts,"^ but claimed that half the 
expense of settling the boundary lines sliould be borne by tiic 
adjoining Province. They promised "ample provision for liis 
honorable support " 'as soon as practicable. They voted a salary 
<if .£250 to the governor, which they increased to ^500, and 
an additional sum for house rent. They presented their agent, 
Thomlinson, with ^^500 sterling for his faithful services. They 
also issued paper money to the amount of ^£^25,000. Tlic 
governor's salary was further increased by ^800 sterling, his 
pay as surveyor of the woods, an office which Dunbar was in- 
duced to resign upon receipt of ^2,000 sterling. Thomlinson 
brought about the appointment of Wentworth to the office upon 
the surrender of his claim of JSf'.ooo against the Spanish 
c.own.' 

The good foitune of Governor Wentworth did not fail to 
raise up envious enemies, but their schemes for his overthrow 
were futile. 

In 1744 the proprietors of Suncook chose Colonel Benjamin 
Rolfe, Mr. Andrew McFarland, and Deacon Noah Johnson, to 
treat with the proprietors of the Town of Bow, at their ne.xt 
meeting, and "to see upon what terms or agreement thev will 
come into with us concerning our lands which the\' have in 
dispute with us, and see if said proi^rietors will take up with 
such offers or proposals as the Province or l'rf)vinces shall make 
unto them ; or some other way; so that all controversies or law- 
suits may be ended for the future, that s<i it may be for theirs 
and our peace and benefit." 

The war commenced between lingland and Spain soon in- 
volved nearly all Europe. When France became an ally of the 
Spaniards, New England became interested. The French garri- 
son at Cape l^reton, having earlv information of the declaration 
of war, surprised and captured the unprepared JCnglisli fishing 

' Relkr.T:i. 



1744] KovAL ruoviNCE. 199 

station at Canseau, near the northern part of Nova Scotia, and 
were assisted by the Indians. As a consequence the govern- 
ment of Massachusetts declared war against the French and 
Indians in October, 1744, and offered a bounty for scalps and 
prisoners. 

From the pen of Rev. Daniel Rollins, a descendant of the 
chief actor in the romantic drama of the Louisburg war, comes 
the following accounts : 

France had declared war on the 15th of March, 1744; and 
about si.x months prior to that time. Governor Shirley sent a letter 
to Colonel Pepperrell, desiring him to hold his regiment in readi- 
ness to protect the frontier against the Indians. He accordingly 
sent copies of it to each of his captains, and also added the 
following spirited sentence : " I hope that He who gave us our 
breath will give us the courage and prudence to behave ourselves 
like true-born Englishmen." 

Colonel Pepperrell was born at Kittery Point, Maine, June 27, 
1696. The colony was then under the jurisdiction of Massa- 
chusetts : both being subject, of course, to the crown. 

The capture of Louisburg, the " Gibraltar of America," was 
the leading event in our Colonial history; but it was followed 
so closely by the Revolution, that it is somewhat obscured in 
the light of that great struggle. The town of Louisburg, 
named after " le grand monarqiic" is situated in the south- 
eastern part of Cape Breton Island, adjoining Nova Scotia, and 
controls the entrance to the Gulf and River St. Lawrence. It 
commanded the fisheries by its position. The island also pro- 
duced large quantities of excellent ship timber. That ripe 
scholar, the Rev. Jeremy Belknap, in his exhaustive description 
of its capture, says the town of Louisburg "was two and a half 
miles in circumference, fortified in every accessible part, with a 
rampart of stone from thirty to thirty-six feet high, and a dit«ch 
eighty feet wide. * * * On an island at the entrance to the har- 
bor, which was only four hundred yards wide, was a battery of 
thirty cannon, carrying twenty-eight pound shot ; and at the 
bottom of tlie harbor, directly opposite to the entrance, was the 
t^rand or roval battei-\-, of twenty-eight fort)' -twos, and two 



200 HISTUKV OF N'EW 11AM1>SHIKE. [l745 

eighteen -pound cannon. * * * The entrance to the town was at 
the west gate, over a drawbridge, which was protected by a 
circular battery of thirteen twenty-four-pound cannon. These 
works had been twenty-five years in building, and, though un- 
finished, had cost France not less than six millions of dollars." 
It is worthy of notice that only New England troops took part 
in the siege. Colonel Pepperrell was selected to command the 
forces, with the rank of lieutenant-general. He already occupied 
the ne.Kt highest post to that of the governor, viz., president 
of the council. He was also very wealthy and popular, and 
likely to draw soldiers to his standard, as indeed proved to be 
the case. " Nil dcspcranduni Cliristo ducc," was the motto of 
the invaders. Colonel Pepperrell advanced five thousand 
pounds from his own fortune, and threw himself into the work 
of preparation with all the impetuosity of his nature. 

The West India squadron, under Commodore Warren, which 
was to co-operate with the New-England troops, failed to arrive 
at the appointed time ; but they set sail without them on March 
24, 1745, and after a short passage reached Louisburg, and began 
at once to disembark and invest the town. On the 24th of 
April, Warren and three of his men-of-war joined them, and 
others arrived later. It appears that they took part in the bom- 
bardment to some extent, but most of the work had necessarily 
to be done by the land forces with their heavy siege-guns. The 
ships also served to good purpose in preventing reinforcements 
and supplies from entering the harbor. But space will not per- 
mit a detailed account of the capture of the " Dunkirk of 
America." Suffice it to say that the place capitulated after 
a seven-weeks arduous attack by land and sea. The cross of St. 
George had supplanted the lilies of France. On the 17th of 
June, 1745, General Pepperrell marched into the town at the head 
of his troops, and received the keys, although Commodore 
Warren had vainly flattered himself that he or one of his 
ofificers should have the honor of receiving the surrender of the 
place. He had even gone so far as to send a letter to the 
French governor, ordering him to deliver the keys to some one 
whom he should afterwards desigr.ate. General Pepperrell did not 



17451 ROVAI. I'KOVINCE. 20I 

know of this action at the time ; and he probably never learnetl 
of it, as they continued to be good friends. Very likely he 
knew of Warren's desire to assume the glory ; for this was the 
general opinion among the people of New England at the time, 
and, indeed, feeling ran very high on the subject. Dr. Chauncey 
expressed their sentiments when he wrote the following to General 
Pepperrell. He said : "If the high admiral of England had been 
there, he would not have had the least right to command any- 
where but aboard his own ships." A good instance of the 
Aiiicrican spirit thirty years prior to the Revolution. 

Smollett says: "The conquest of Louisburg was the most 
important achievement of the war of 1744." 

Ward, in his edition of " Curwen's Journal of the Loyalists," 
says : " That such a city should have yielded to the farmers^ 
merchants, and fishermen of New England, is almost incredible. 
The lovers of the wonderful may read the works which contain 
accounts of its rise and ruin, and be satisfied that truth is 
sometimes stranger than fiction." 

Pepperrell received a letter from the Duke of Newcastle, dated 
at Whitehall, August 10, 1745, acquainting him that his Majesty 
had sent a patent from Hanover creating him a baronet of Great 
]5ritain, — an honor never before conferred on a native of 
America. Commodore Warren was also promoted to the rank 
of admiral. 

A trophy of the capture of Louisburg lies almost at our 
doors. The visitor, on approaching the massive and stately 
building" known as Gore Hall, at Cambridge, may see a gilded 
cross over one of its doors, which was taken from a Erench 
church and eventually foiuid a resting-place there. The granite 
pile stands for learning and progress. The cross may well re- 
mind the students and all the friends of the university of its 
motto, "Christo et Ecclesise," that its meaning may never be 
forgotten in our onward march. 

Sir William Pepperrell embarked in Admiral Knowles'-s 
squadron for Boston, Sept. 24, 1746, and arrived there on the 
2nd of October, after a storm.v passage. 

He set sail for London in September, 1749, and was cordially 



202 IIIbT()R\' Ol' M;\V HAMl'SIIIKE. ['745 

received at court by his Majesty, King George II. He was also 
tlie recipient of many attentions from the Prince of Wales and 
Lord HaUfax. The mayor of London waited on him, and pre- 
sented him with a set of plate in honor of his distinguished ser- 
vices. Sir William was a man of fine appearance, somewhat 
inclined to be portly, and his dignified and elegant bearing made 
him noted, even at the court of St. James. A description of 
the dress which he wore when presented has not come down to 
us, but he oiclinarily dressed in the rich apparel customary for 
gentlemen in his day, viz., a suit of scarlet cloth trimmed with 
gold lace, silk stockings and silver shoe buckles, and the usual 
powdered wig. He also wore lace ruffles at his wrists, and the 
long vest then in fashion. There is extant a full-length portrait 
of him by the gifted Smibert, in the Essex Institute at Salem. 
It belongs to, and was formerl)- in, the Portsmouth Athenaeum, 
•where it should have remained. 

Me lived in great style at Kittery, and kept open house for 
all his friends, although he was choice in his acquaintance. 
His library was the best in that part of the country, and was 
much consulted by scholars, especially the clergy. His large 
and substantial house was hung with beautiful paintings and 
costly mirrors. His cellar was filled with rare old wines, — not 
to mention the highly-prized New England rum, that had been 
mellowed by its voyage to the Indies and back. His park was 
stocked with deer ; he kept a coach-and-six, and also had a 
splendid barge, manned by six slaves in uniform. 

He owned immense tracts of land in Maine ; and it is said 
that he could travel from Portsmouth to Saco River, a distance 
of thirty miles, all the way on his own soil. All these vast 
estates were confiscated during the Revolution. 

Still another honor awaited him : for he received a commis- 
sion of lieutenant-general in the royal army, bearing date Feb. 
20, 1/59, giving him the command of all the forces engaged 
against the French and their savage allies. But the old veteran 
could not take the field, for his health was failing : and he died 
on the 6th of July, 1759, in the sixty-third year of his age. His 
remains were placed in the family tomb, on his estate at Kittery 
Point. 



174^3] KOVAL I'KOVIN'CE. 2O3 

' The old I'c[ipeircll House, bnilt neail}' two luiiKlred years 
^go, which has seen more of splendor, and sheltered more 
famous individuals than any other private residence on this side 
of the sea, is still the object of frequent pil<j;rimages to Kittery 
Point. The house was built by the first William Pepperrell, the 
;;reat merchant and ship-builder of his time. He accumulated 
va <: wealth by trade, and his mansion reflected the boundless- 
ness of his means. Grand as any old English castle, it stood 
looking out to sea, girt by a great park where droves of deer 
imported. His son, the famous Sir William Pepperrell, enlarged 
and adorned it at the time of his marriage in 1734. This Lord 
Pepperrell, the only American baronet after Sir William Phipps, 
was a remarkable man. He was the richest merchant in the 
colonies, and had at times two hundred ships at sea. His suc- 
cess at Louisburg proved him a skilful general, and his political 
iiiriuence was second to that of no man's in the colonies. The 
stvle he lived in recalled the feudal magnificence of the great 
barons. The walls of his great mansion were adorned with rich 
carvings, splendid mirrors, and costly paintings. In his side- 
board glittered heavy silver plate and rare old china. Wine a 
h.undred years old, from the delicate, spicy brands of Rhineland 
to the fiery Tuscan, was in his cellars. He kept a coach with 
si.K white horses. A retinue of slaves and hired menials looked 
to him as their lord ; and he had a barge upon the river, in 
which he was rowed by a crew of Africans in gaud)- uniforms. 
The only man in all the colonies worth two hundred thousand 
pounds sterling, reigning grandly over grand estates ; for, like 
an English peer, he might have travelled all day long upon his 
own lands, sovereign lord, in fact, if not in name, of mor-? than 
five hundred thousand acres, — timber, plain and valley, — i.i New 
Hampshire and Maine. Sir William Pepperrell coukl do this, 
and yet not live beyond his means. 

The original paper remains on the walls of the wide iiall, as 
do the deer antlers above the doors. The observatory upon the 
roof affords a fine view of the surrounding country. A noble 
avenue of ehns, a quarter of a mile in length, formerly i- ■ from 

" lie J Myrnn Cilbv. 



204 HISTORY OF NICW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 74^ 

the street to the door. The trees were about one rod apart. 
The perspective effect of this grand avenue must have been 
peculiarly graceful and impressive. Some vandal cut down the 
trees years ago. But no one can destroy the beauty of the 
noble site on which the mansion stands. The late James T. 
Fields, an honored son of Portsmouth, endeavored, among 
others, to purchase it for a summer residence. 

One of the prime movers and most enthusiastic supporters 
of the expedition against Louisburg was William Vaughan, son 
of Lieut.-Governor Vaughan of New Hampshire, who was exten- 
sively engaged in fishing along the eastern coast. Some claim 
that he originated the idea. Governor Shirley, of Massa- 
chusetts, having determined upon the matter, Vaughan rode 
express from Boston to Portsmouth, where the New Hampshire 
Assembly was sitting. Governor Wentworth, between whom 
and Governor Shirley the most amicable relations existed, im- 
mediately laid the matter before them, and proposed a confer- 
ence of the two houses to be held on the next day. The house 
of representatives having caught the enthusiasm of Vaughan 
were impatient of even this delay, and immediately took favor- 
able action, appropriated ;£4,ooo, and authorized the governor 
to select two hundred and fifty men and provide stores and 
transports. To raise the necessary money, they had to go beyond 
the power vested in them by the crown, but were advised to do so 
by Governor Shirley. By the middle of February their quota of 
men were enlisted, eager to serve under such a popular man as 
Colonel Pepperrell. Governor Wentworth was at first inclined 
to take command of the force, but was persuaded to stay at 
home. The famous George Whitefield gave the expedition a 
motto, AUl Desperandiim Christo Diicc, which almost gave it the 
character of a crusade. 

Including the crew of an armed sloop in command of Captain 
John Fernald, New Hampshire furnished three hundred and 
fifty men, organized into a regiment under command of Colonel 
Samuel Moore, besides one hundred and fifty men enlisted in 
Massachusetts regiments, or one-eighth of the whole land force. 
The New Hampshire troops arrived at the rendezvous at Can- 



1746] K(i\Al. I'I;()\-1NCE. 205 

seau the last dav of March, two days before the arrival of their 
comrades. 

The expedition was planned by a lawyer, executed by a mer- 
chant, at the head of a body of husbandmen and mechanics, 
animated indeed by ardent patriotism, but destitute of professi- 
onal skill and experience. " If an\' one circumstance had taken 
a wrong turn on our side, and if any one circumstance had not 
taken a wrong turn on the French side, the expedition must have 
miscarried." ^ 

The impregnable fortress capitulated after a short siege, in 
■which New Hampshire lost eleven men, five killed and six died 
of sickness. Lieutenant-Colonel Vaughan especially distin- 
guished himself. The British navy, however, reaped most of 
the rich harvest from the victory ; but Wentworth and Shirley 
were confirmed in their governments as a result. 

During the year 1746 the conquest of Canada was planned by 
the British ministry, and the American Colonies were directed 
to prepare for the contest. The Indians attached to the inter- 
ests of the French had already commenced their depredations 
along the whole frontier, destroying the fields and cattle, burn- 
ing houses and mills, and killing and carrying away the inhabi- 
tants. So an offensive campaign was designed to carry the war 
into the country of the enemy. Eight hundred men were 
enlisted in New Hampshire in June, and ready for embarkation 
in July, under command of Colonel Atkinson ; but the English 
fleet which was to co-operate with it did not arrive. The arri- 
val in Nova Scotia of a French army and fleet alarmed New 
England, and for a time they acted on the defensive, strength- 
ening the forts at the mouth of the river and preparing for an 
attack. But the French fleet met with misfortunes and losses, 
gave up their proposed attempt to subdue New England, and 
returned to France greatly discouraged. To New Englanders 
the troubles of the French seemed providential. Colonel 
Atkinson's regiment during the fall and winter was stationed 
on the frontier in the neighborhood of Lake Winnipiseogee. 

During the war Massachusetts sustained garrisons in the 



206 



lilSlOKV (IF M:\V IIAMl'SllIKE. 



[174& 



valley of the Connecticut, in to\vn,shi[)s tiiat had been granted 
by that Province within New Hampshire, to j^rotect their 
northern frontier. They had forts at Number Four, or Charles- 
town ; Great Meadow, or Westmoreland ; (ireat I'^all, orWalpole ; 
Fort Dummer, or Hinsdale ; Upper Ashuelot, oi- Keene ; and 
Lower Ashuelot, oi- Swanzev. New Hampshire maintained 
garrisons along the frontier of their settlements at Penacook, 
or Concord ; Suncook, or Pembroke ; Contoocook, or ]5oscawen ; 
New Hopkinton, or Hopkinton ; Soiihegan ]{nst, or M,-rrimack : 




Souliegan West, or Amherst; and at Londondeiry, Chester, 
Flpsom, and at Rochester. In the gai'rison houses the inhabitants 
took refuge by night and never left them with a feeling of security. 
They went constantly armed. Nor were their fears without 
foundation. Although parties of scouts were kept ranging the 
woods, surprises and attacks, more or less successfiil, were of 
frequent occurrence. 

Tiie first a[)pcarance of the enem\- in the Province was at 
Great Meadows, eaih' in }u]x. 1744. wheie they killed William 
Phi]xs. Tlie .same week they killetl Josej)!! I'isher oi Upper 
Ashuelot. 



1746] ROVAL PKO\INXE. 20/ 

In October the Indians captured Nehemiah How and killed 
David Rugg at Great Meadow. 

In the spring of 1746 the Indians captured John Spofford, 
Isaac Parker, and Stephen Farnsworth, at Number Four, 
and killed their cattle. In April they attempted to surprise 
the Fort at Upper Ashuelot. John Ballard and the wife of 
Daniel McKenny were killed and Nathan Blake was taken into 
captivity. They burned several houses and barns. About 
the same time they surprised a garrisoned house at New 
Hopkinton and captured and took to Canada Samuel Burbank 
and David Woodwell and six members of their families. Mary 
Woodwell, one of the captives, afterwards joined the Shakers 
at Canterbury. 

In May a small party made an attack upon Number Four, and 
killed Seth Putnam, but were repulsed by Major Josiah Willard. 

At Contoocook Elisha Cook and a negro were killed and 
Thomas Jones taken captive. At Lower Ashuelot, Timothy 
Brown and Robert Moffat were captured. Near the end of 
the month there was cjuite a battle at Number Four, in which 
five were killed on each side. 

In June another engagement occurred at the same place, 
in which one settler lost his life. Captain Phinehas Stevens 
was in both battles. At Bridgman's Fort, near I'^ort Dummer, 
William Robbins and James Baker were killed, and Daniel How 
and John Beaman were captured. At Rochester, they killed 
Joseph Heard, Joseph Richards, John Wentworth, and 
Gershom Downs, and wounded and captured John Richards 
and took a boy named Jonathan Door. 

in August they killed one Phillips at Number Four, Joseph 
Rawson at Winchester, and Moses Roberts at Rochester. 
At Contoocook two men were taken. At Rumford, on the road 
to Millville, were killed Samuel Bradley, Jonathan Bradley, 
Obadiah Peters, John Bean, and Peter Lufkin. Alexander 
Roberts and William Stickney were carried into captivity. The 
Indians lost four killed and several wounded, two of them 
mortally. A monument marks the site of the massacre on 
the outskirts of the precinct of the city of Concord. A Mr. Es- 
tabrook was killed near the same place in November. 



208 HISTOKV OF NEW IIAMI'SUIRE. [ 1 747 

In the fall ot i~4f>, Massachusetts withdrew her garrisons 
from the towns within New Ham|jshire and many of the inhab- 
itants left at the same time. Four families, who remained at 
Shattuck's fort, in Hinsdale, successfully defended it against 
an Indian attack 

In the Spring of 1747, Captain Phinehas Stevens, with a 
ranging company of thirty men, occupied the fort at Number 
Four, and within a few days sustained a most determined attack 
from a party of French and Indians, which was kept up for 
three days, when the enemy retired Robert Beard, John 
Folsom, and Elizabeth Simpson were killed at Nottingham. 
In the autumn, Bridgeman's fort (Hinsdale) was captured, with 
its garrison, several of whom were killed and the others 
taken to Canada. 

That wide stretch of hilly country lying between the Mer- 
rimack and Connecticut rivers was, ' at that time, a densely- 
wooded wilderness. The few who would have ventured to 
occupy it well knew that so long as the French remained in 
possession of Canada the region was in continual danger from 
attacks by the Indians. In 1746 these attacks had become 
so frequent and successful, that many of the settlements com- 
menced in the central and southern parts of the State had been 
abandoned. There remained on the Merrimack small openings 
at Nashua, Litchfield, Concord, Amoskeag, Suncook, Boscawen, 
and Canterbury, and one at Hinsdale and another at Charles, 
town on the Connecticut ; but the entire midland between these 
valleys was an unbroken, heavy-wooded country. 

In the fall of 1747 two explorers from Dunstable, Nehemiah 
Lovewell and John Gilson, started from the present site of 
Nashua for the purpose of examining the slope of the Mer- 
rimack, and of crossing the height of land to Number Four, 
now Charlestown, which was known as the most northern 
settlement in the Connecticut valley. Knowing the difficulties 
in traversing hills and valleys mostly covered with underbrush 
and rough with fallen timber and huge bowlders, they carried as 
light an outfit as possible — a musket and camp-blanket each, 

' Jolin H. l-ood.lle. 



1747] ROVAL I'KtniN'CE. 2og 

with five tlays' provisions. Following the Souhegan to Milford 
and Wilton, they then turned northward, and crossing the 
height of land in the limits of the present town of Stoddard, had 
on the afternoon of the third day their first view of the broad 
valley westward, with a dim outline of the mountains be- 
yond. The weather was clear and pleasant, the journey 
laborious but invigorating. On their fourth night they camped 
on the banks of the Connecticut, some ten miles below Charles- 
town. At noon of the next day they were welcomed at the rude 
fort, which had already won renown by the heroic valor of its 
little garrison. 

At this time the fort at Number Four was commanded by 
Captain Phinehas Stevens, a man of great energy and bravery, 
Lovewell and Gilson were the first visitors from the valley 
of the Merrimack, and their arrival was a novelty. That night, 
as in later days they used to relate, they sat up till midnight, 
listening to the fierce struggles which the inmates of this 
rude fortress, far up in the woods, had encountered within 
the previous eight months. The preceding winter this fort had 
been abandoned, and the few settlers had been compelled to 
return to Massachusetts. But Governor Shirley felt that so im- 
portant an outpost should be maintained. As soon as the 
melting of the deep snow in the woods would permit, Captain 
Stevens, with thirty rangers, left Deerfield for Number Four 
and reached it on the last day of March. The arrival was most 
fortunate. Hardly was the fort garrisoned and the entrance 
made secure when it was attacked by a large force of French 
and Indians. Led by Debeline, an experienced commander, 
they had come undiscovered and lay in ambush for a favorable 
moment to begin the attack. But the faithful dogs of the 
garrison gave notice of the concealed foe. Finding they were 
discovered the Indians opened a fire on all sides of the fort. 
The adjacent lug houses and fences were set on fire. Flaming 
arrows fell incessantly upon the roof. The wind rose and the 
fort was surrounded by flames. Stevens dug trenches under 
the walls and through these the men crept and put out the 
fires that caught outside the walls. 



2IO HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['747 

For two days the firing had been kept up and hundreds 
of balls had been lodged in the fort and stockade. On the 
morning of the third day Debeline sent forward a flag of truce. 
A French officer and two Indians advanced and proposed 
terms of capitulation, which were that the garrison should 
lay down their arms and be conducted prisoners to Montreal. 
It was agreed that the two commanders should meet and Captain 
Stevens's answer should be given. When they met, Debeline, 
without waiting for an answer, threatened to storm the fort and 
put every man to the sword if a surrender was not speedily 
made. Stevens replied that he should defend it to the last. 
"Go back," said the Frenchman, "and see if your men dare 
fight any longer." Stevens returned and put to the men the 
question, " Will you fight or surrender.' " They answered, 
"We will fight." This answer was at once made known to the 
enemy, and both parties resumed arms. Severe fighting was 
kept up during the day. The Indians, in approaching the 
stockade, were compelled to expose themselves. They had 
already lost over a dozen of their number, while not one of the 
defenders was slain. The French commander, reluctantly 
giving up all hopes of carrying the fortification, returned 
towards Canada. The coo! intrepidity of the rangers saved 
Number Four. Sir Charles Knowles, then in command of the 
fleet at Boston, sent Captain Stevens an elegant sword. Subse- 
quently in his honor. Number Four was called Charlestown. 

After various perils and a narrow escape from capture by the 
Indians, Lovewell and his companion arrived safely at Dunstable. 

In the spring of 1748, Captain Stevens was again in com- 
mand at the fort at Number Four, with a garrison of one hun- 
dred men. A scouting party of eighteen, sent from the fort, 
lost si.x of their number. 

During the summer, the Indians made an attack on Roch- 
ester, in which the wife of Jonathan Hodgdon was killed; and 
later, three men were killed at Hinsdale's Fort, — Nathan French, 
Joseph Richardson, and John Frost. William Bickford, of the 
seven prisoners taken, died of his wounds. 

Captain Hobbs, with a scouting party of forty men, was 



1745] KOVAL PKOVIXCE. 211 

attacked near West Ri\cr, in Hinsdale; and, after a b>ittle of 
three hours, withdrew with the loss of three men killed and four 
wounded. The same party of the enemy killed two men and 
captured nine in the same neighborhood. Peace was declared 
between France and England in 1749, but an attack was made 
upon Number Four in the early summer, in which one man, 
Obadiah Sartwell, was killed, and a son of Captain Stevens was 
captured and taken to Canada. Peace was destined to continue 
until 1754. 

During this war the Indians did not murder nor torture their 
prisoners, but treated them humanely, according to the testi- 
mony of many who returned. 

During the continuance of the war had occurred an event of 
much interest to New Hampshire. It will be remembered that 
Thomlinson had purchased of the last Mason heir his interest in 
New Hampshire, promising him ;^ 1,000 in behalf of the As- 
sembly. After the settlement of the line between the prov- 
inces, and during the attack on Louisburg, in which Mason had 
command of a company, Governor Wentworth frequently called 
the attention of the General Court to the matter, but that body 
hesitated to appropriate the necessary funds to complete the 
purchase. At length Mason, becoming impatient, and the 
entail having been docked, made a trade with certain gentlemen 
of the Province, and, January 30, 1746, disposed of his whole 
interest for ^1,500 currency, on the very day a committee of 
the Assembly called upon him to arrange the matter. The 
purchasers were Theodore Atkinson, M. H. Wentworth, Rich- 
ard Wibird, John Wentworth, George Jaffrey, Nathaniel Me- 
serve, Thomas Packer, Thomas Wallingford, Jotham Odiorne, 
Joshua Pierce, Samuel Moore, and John Moffat. Their act 
raised a storm of indignation ; but they prudently filed at the 
recorder's office a quit-claim deed to all the towns which had 
been granted by New Hampshire authority, viz., Portsmouth, 
Dover, E.xeter, Hampton, Gosport, Kingston, Londonderry, 
Chester, Nottingham, Barrington, Rochester, Canterbury, Bow, 
Chichester, Epsom, Barnstead, and Gilmanton. 

In 1746 the towns of Merrimack, Pelham, Hudson, Hollis, 
and Dunstable were incorporated. 



212 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [^746 

Merrimack, formerly Souhegan East, had been settled about 
thirteen years. A Mr. Hassell was among the first settlers. 
The first house in town had been built many years before any 
permanent settlement was made, and was occupied by John 
Cromwell for purposes of trafiic with the Indians. The house 
was standing near the Merrimack River in 1679, but was after- 
ward burned. Rev. Jacob Burnap, D. D., was settled as min- 
ister in 1772, and died in 1821 ; Rev. Stephen Morse, in 1825; 
Rev. Stephen T. Allen, in 1839; Rev. E. G. Little, in 1850. A 
church was organized in the south part of the town in 1829. 
The town was the home for many years of Hon. Mat hew 
Thornton. 

The first settlements were made in Pelham, in 1722, by John 
Butler and William Richardson, the grandfather of Chief- 
Justice Richardson. A meeting house was built in 1747, and 
Rev. James Hobbs was ordained as minister in 1751. He was 
succeeded by Rev. Amos Moody, in 1765 ; by Rev. John H. 
Church, in 1798; by Rev. John Keep, in i8js ; by Rev. Cyrus 
W. Allen, in 1843; by Rev. Charles Rockwell, in 1854. 

Hudson was incorporated as Nottingham West, and formed a 
part of Dunstable. It was settled as early as 17 10. Some of 
the early names were Bljidgett, Winn, Lovewell, Colburn, Hill, 
Greeley, Cross, Cummings, Pollard, Marsh, and Merrill. A man 
by the name of Cross was taken prisoner to Canada from the 
town. Rev. Nathaniel Merrill was settled as minister in 1737; 
Rev. Jabez L. Fisher, in 1796; Rev. William K. Talbot, in 
1825; Rev. D. L. French, in 1852. 

Hollis, known to the Indians as Nisitissit, was, before its in- 
corporation, the west parish of Dunstable. The first settlement 
was made by Captain Peter Powers, in 1731. A church was 
organized, and Rev. Daniel Emerson was settled as the minister 
in 1743. He was chaplain during the French and Indian War. 
He died in 1801. Rev. Eli Smith was settled as colleague pastor 
,in 1793; Rev. David Perry was settled in 1831 ; Rev. James 
Aiken, in 1843 ; Rev. Matthew D. Gordon, in 1849; R^v. P. B. 
Day, in 1852. Among the notable families who have lived in 
the town arc those by the name of Powers, Goodhue, Cum- 



1/47] ROYAL PROVINCE. 21 3 

miii-s, limerson, Burge, Farley, Proctor, Kendrick, Worcester, 
Klood, Jevvctt, Tenney, Eastman, Hardy, Smith, Holt, and 
Sawtell. 

The old town of Dunstable was granted in 1672, and was 
divided in 1740 by the Province line. Among the early settlers 
appear the names of Weld, Blanchard, Waldo, Cumings, French, 
Lovewell, Farwell, Lund, and Colburn. Hon. Edward Tyng 
was among the earlier settlers, and the town received its name 
in honor of his wife. A church was organized in 1685, when 
Rev. Thomas Weld was settled as minister. He was killed by 
the Indians in 1702. Rev. Nathaniel Prentice was settled in 
1718, and ministered to the people until his death in 1737. He 
was succeeded, in 1738, by Rev. Josiah Swan ; in 1748, by Rev. 
Samuel Bird; in 1767, by Rey^_JjQS£ph_Kidder ; in 1813, by 
Rev. Ebenezer B. Sperry ; in 1826, by Rev. Handel G. Nott ; 
in 1S36, by Rev. Jonathan McGee ; in 1842, by Rev. Matthew 
Hale Smith; in 1846, by Rev. Samuel Lavvson ; in 1849, by 
Rev. Daniel March. The Olive Street church separated in 
1834; the Pearl Street church in 1846. 

The towns of Hampstead, Newton, Plaistow, and Litchfield 
were incorporated in 1749, and the township of Salisbury was 
granted the same year. 

With great wisdom the Masonian proprietors sought to dis- 
arm antagonism to their claims by granting townships to peti- 
tioners, often without fees, and always without quit-rents. 
"They quieted the proprietors of the towns, on the western side 
of the Merrimack, which had been granted by Massachusetts, 
before the establishment of the line ; so that they went on 
peaceably with their settlements. The terms of their grants 
were, that the grantees should, within a limited time, erect 
mills and meeting-houses, clear out roads, and settle ministers. 
In every township, they reserved one right for the fir.st settled 
minister, another for a parsonage, and a third for a school. 
They also reserved fifteen rights for themselves, and two for 
their attorneys ; all of which were to be free from ta.xes, till 
sold or occupied. By virtue of these grants, many townships 
were settled, and the interest of the people became so united 



214 HISTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['750 

with that of the prupiietDis, that the prejutHce against them 
gradually abated." * 

The towns of Suncook and Runiford were not included in 
this general amnesty. 

In November, 1750. a suit was commenced against Deacon 
John Merrill, " b\' the proprietors of the common and undivided 
lands lying and being in the town of Bow," in an action of 
ejectment, wherein they demanded eight acres of land and ,dl 
improvements made by Deacon Merrill. This seems to have 
been the beginning of litigation, the test of the right of the 
proprietors of Bow to lands claimed by them. The settlers 
voted to raise money to defend Deacon Merrill. 

At the same time Captain John Chandler, Colonel Benjamin 
Rolfe, Lieutenant Jeremiah Stickney, Mr. Ebenezer Virgin, and 
Dr. Ezra Carter, or the major part of them, were appointed a 
committee for said proprietors, "to advise and order Deacon 
John Merrill how he shall pursue and defend the action brought 
against said Merrill by the proprietors of Bow ; also, to advise 
and order an}' other person or persons that shall be sued or 
shall sue in order to support and defend their rights or claims, 
what method they shall pursue for the purposes aforesaid."'-^ 

Bedford and Salem were incorporated in 1750. 

The township of Dunbarton was granted in 175 i. 

^The first settlement was made about 1735, by Joseph and 
William Putney, James Rogers and Obediah Foster, who came 
from Rumford (now Concord), and located in the eastern part 
of the town, at a place called " Great Meadow." Here they 
erected log houses, planted fruit trees and set about imjiroving 
the land. When a body of Indians appeared in the vicinit)' of 
Rumford, two friends of Rogers made their way by " sjiotted " 
trees to warn the settlers of the danger. They found one of 
the families engaged in cooking for supper and the other churn- 
ing. Upon the receipt of the alarming intelligence they at 
once abandoned their homes, "leaving the meat to fry itself 
away and the cream to churn itself to butter," and during the 
night succeeded in reaching Rimifunl. Returning the next day 

■ Karmei's I'.i-lknap, p. 29..1 - l->r N. Houion. 3 J. li, Cuniior. 



I 75 'J KOVAL rROVIN'CE. 215 

to drive their cattle to the garrison, they found them all slaugh- 
tered, their houses plundered and burned, and the apple trees 
cut down. Three years later Messrs. Putney and Rogers made 
a permanent settlement, though they had procured no title to 
the land, but their possession was confirmed by the proprietors, 
who, in 175 1, obtained a grant of the township. The extensive 
range of meadow land already cleared by the industrious 
farmers was particularly adapted to agriculture and was rich in 
the kind of grass called "blue-joint." The name given by the 
settlers was " Mountalona," from a place where they once dwelt 
in Ireland, for religious oppression had driven them from their 
ancestral homes in Scotland. We can but admire the intrepidity 
of this little band in removing so far away from the garrison at 
a time fraught with so many dangers, for although the Indian 
war ended about this time, the peace was not of that substantial 
character which ensures perfect security. It was more than 
likely that the pioneers were suspicious of their former foes, for 
a long time after the cessation of hostilities, and even while pur- 
suing their daily avocations, they were ever on the alert to 
detect the cat-like tread of the treacherous red-skins. They 
had not forgotten the devastation of their farms and homes, 
and the massacre on the IIo]ikinton road was still fresh in their 
minds. But the remembrance of these scenes, while it served 
to increase their caution, rendered them only the more deter- 
mined in their enterprize. Mr. Rogers was the father of Major 
Robert Rogers, celebrated as a leader of the rangers in the 
French and Indian war. The elder Rogers met with a singular 
and painful death in attempting to visit his friend Ebenezer 
Ayer. Mr. Ayer, who was a hunter of no little renown, had 
been in quest of game during the day, and returning to camp 
early in the evening was still on the lookout for a bear, when 
Mr. Rogers appeared. Mistaking his friend (who was dressed 
in a bear-skin suit) for an animal of that species, he fired and 
mortally wounded him. Mr. Ayer was intensely grieved at the 
accident and could never relate the occurrence without shed- 
ding tears. At the time of this settlement, Concord (or Rum- 
ford) had aiiout 350 inhabitants. Bow not more than five 



2l6 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['751 

families, and Goffstown might have had a few inhabitants, 
though it is very doubtful, wl-.ile Hopkinton had been settled 
ten years. In 1751 arrangements were made for a regular 
settlement of the town, the included territory being granted by 
the assigns of John Tufton Mason to Archibald Stark, Caleb 
Paige, Hugh Ramsey and others. This grant embraced a 
territory five miles square, and included a portion of the present 
town of Hooksctt. The ne.xt settlement was made in the 
western part of the town, by William Stinson, Thomas Mills 
and John Hogg. These families were for a time three miles 
apart, with no intervening neighbors, and we can imagine the 
sense of loneliness which would at times enter their hearts despite 
the cheerful character of their natures. During the day the 
cares of the farm would engross their attention, but when the 
setting sun had proclaimed the hour of parting day, "and all 
the earth a solemn stillness wore," they must have keenly felt 
their isolation and sometimes deeply sighed for the homes which 
they had left. To add to the dreariness of the long winter 
nights, savage beasts rent the air with yelps and howls till 
children trembling buried their heads in the pillows and sterner 
hearts still feared the inroads of their skulking foes. The first 
child born in the town was probably Sarah Mills, daughter of the 
above mentioned Thomas Mills, although Stark, the historian, 
says: "We are inclined to believe that the first child born upon 
the territory was one of the family of James Rogers or Joseph 
Putney, who settled upon it several years prior to 1746, to the 
oldest sons of whom lots of land were granted in 1752." From 
this time emigrants flocked to all parts of the town, some com- 
ing direct from Scotland, others from Haverhill, Ipswich, Salem, 
Topsfield, and other Massachusetts towns, until, in 1770, Dunbar- 
ton boasted of its 497 inhabitants, being two-thirds of its pre- 
sent population. These people, actuated by a love for their new 
homes and assisted by the generous hand of nature, rapidly de- 
veloped those resources which have added wealth and impor- 
tance to the town. The building of highways was one of the 
first improvements, and as early as 1760 we find notice of roads 
being laid out, anel the nuiiu hi;;li\va\' running through the west- 



I/S'] KOVAL PROVI^•CE. 21" 

ern part of the town was probably established long before- 
This was the principal route to Boston from central New Hamp- 
shire, and for years these hills resounded with the busy strains 
of travel. The whirling coach threw clouds of dust to blind the 
teamster's sight, and the rumbling of its wheels brought many 
a head to the windows whose narrow panes afforded hut a lim- 
ited view of the " Fast Mail." 

In 1760, lot No. 12, in the 4th range, containing 100 acres, 
was granted to Captain John Stark (afterwards General), upon 
contlition that he build a saw-mill, the same to be put in opera- 
tion within one year. The condition was fulfilled. Captain 
WilUam Stinson erected the next mill. 

Religion and education received prompt attention, and in 1752 
a vote was passed that a meetinghouse should be built "within 
five years from May next ensuing." The house was finished in 
1767 and remained twenty-five years, when it was removed to 
make way for a more pretentious edifice. The first school- 
master who taught in Dunbarton was a Mr. Hogg — commonly 
called "Master Hogg." The first female teacher was Sarah 
Clement. With the facilities now afforded for mental culture, 
we can hardly conceive of a more disheartening task than the 
acquirement of an education under the adverse circumstances 
of the eighteenth century. In these schools ver)' few of the 
scholars possessed text books, so the teacher gave out the pro- 
blems and the pupils were expected to return the answer with- 
out a repetition. The way must have been blind indeed, but 
their victories over the "hard sums" and difficult passages were 
conquests of which they were justly proud, and which fitted 
them to win even greater laurels in the contest for liberty. 

For several years the nearest grist-mill was at Concord, to 
which the settlers carried their grists upon their backs in sum- 
mer, and in winter drew them upon hand sleds .through a path 
marked by spotted trees. From the forest trees these hardy 
pioneers made mortars in which to render the corn fit for making 
samp, the use of which they had learned from the Indians. 
Among the impediments which the early settlers encountered ia 
clearing and burning over the land were the " Kinc's trees." 



2l8 HISIOKV 0[- NEW IIAMl'SlllKE. ['751 

These trees were marked by the Khig's surveyors for use in the 
royal navy, and any damage which occurred to them subjected 
the offender to a considerable fine. Notwithstanding the diffi- 
culties, hardships and privations which compassed them round 
about, these sturdy foresters seem to have lost none of their 
good courage, and that they were wont to enjoy themselves 
upon occasions, is manifest from the frequent occurrence of 
horse-races, while huskings, flax-breakings, apple-parings and 
house-raisings were joyful scenes to the people of those days. 
A few of their industrial pastimes are still in vogue. It was 
■customary in olden times, at raisings and upon other occasions 
when people assembled in numbers, to assist voluntarily in per- 
forming tasks which required the strength of many, to keep up 
^ood cheer by trials of strength and gymnastic exercises. 
Among these pastimes wrestling matches were, perhaps, the 
most popular, and men who had distinguished themselves in 
this art were known to each other by reputation, although 
residing in distant towns. It was the habit of such notable 
individuals to travel many miles to try a fall at wrestling with 
other champions, although entire strangers. An anecdote ex- 
■emplifies this species of wrestling, although the result was not, 
perhaps, satisfactory to the knight who came so far to obtain a 
fall. A person called at the house of John McNiel, of London- 
derry, in consequence of having heard of his strength and 
prowess. McNiel was absent, which circumstance the stranger 
regretted exceedingly — as he informed his wife, Christian, who 
enquired his business — since he had traveled many miles for 
no other purpose than to "throw him." "And troth, mon," 
said Christian McNiel, "Johnny is gone; but I'm not the 
woman to see ye disappointed, an' if ye'll try, mon, I'll throw 
ye meself." The stranger not liking to be bantered by a woman, 
accepted the challenge ; and sure enough. Christian tripped his 
heels and threw him to the ground. The stranger upon getting 
up thought he would not wait for "Johnny," but disappeared 
without leaving his name. 

Derryfield was incorporated in 1751. 

Four towns were incorporated in south western New Manip- 



175-1 Kt>\.\I. I'KOVIN'CE. 219 

shire in 175J. Of these Winchester, grantetl by Massachusetts 
iis Arlington, had been settled a score of years. During the 
Indian war all the houses of the settlement were destroyed, and 
the people took refuge in a garrison-house. 

Walpole, formerly Great Falls, was settled in 1749, by Colonel 
licnjamin Bellows ant^ associates, to whom the charter was 
issued. In 1755, at the head of twenty men, Colonel Bellows 
cut his way through a large force of Indians, and entered the 
fort from which the party had been absent on a scout. 

Chesterfield was not settled until some nine years after its 
charter was granted. 

Richmond was settleil within five or si.\ years after its charter 
was granted. 

The Gregorian rule was eaily adopted in most Catholic coun- 
tries, and also in man\- that were Protestant. Scotland made 
the change in 1600. Hut manv Protestant countries hesitated, 
not wishing to follow the Roman church too nearly, even when 
they knew she was right. But in 175 1, an act of Parliament 
was passed providing that in 1752 the change should be made; 
and eleven days were accordingly dropped from the calendar to 
make it agree with tlie Giegorian rule. This act also became 
the law of the colonies in America. This was the great change 
in this country and in England, from the old to the new style. 

Pope Gregory XIII ruled from 1572 to 1585. He was born 
at Bologna, February 7, 1502, and was known as Hugo Buon- 
compagni. He was first a lawyer, then a priest, and finally 
Pope of Rome. He was a man of enlarged and liberal views, 
great energy and zeal, anil very remarkable ability. Among his 
other distinctions was that of the correction of the Julian calen- 
dar, and the promulgation of that known by his name, the 
Gregorian Calendar. 

Pope Gregory XIII ordered that ten days be suppressed from 
the calendar, so that the iith should he the 21st of the month. 
This was done by making the 5th of October, 1582, the 15th, 
which would bring the equino.x on the same day on which it fell 
in the year 325, when the first Council of Nice was held. 

Up to the year 1600, the difference between the old style and 



220 HI-STORV ()!•■ SEW ^A^^^SHIKt:. ['753 

the new was ten days ; but the year 1600 being a leap year, 
under both systems, the difference continued to be ten days 
only to the year 1700, which would have been a leap year by 
the old or Julian, but was not so by the new or Gregorian rule. 
This made the difference eleven days after that year up to the 
year 1800. Since the year 1800 another day is to be added to 
the difference between the old style and the new, making twelve 
days now, and after the year 1900 the difference will be thirteen 
days. 

But the change was more than this. Up to this time, since 
the twelfth century, as we have seen, the year commenced in 
England on the 25th of March, and the same was true in the 
Provinces. This act of 175 1 provided, also, that beginning with 
1752, the year should begin with January. It was customary 
to write dates that occurred prior to 1752, between January i 
and March 25, so as to indicate the year by both the old style 
and the new — as, January 20th, 1 740-1. This date by the 
old style would be in the latter part of 1740; but by the new, 
the same date would be early in the year 1741. This would 
only show the difference in the year, but not in the day of the 
month. 

Russia is said to be the only Christian nation that has not 
adopted the Gregorian calendar. A person in Russia, writing 
to a person in France or England, or other country having 
adopted the new style, would date their letter April laOr j;;"/^; 
1883, which shows the difference in the day of the month 
between the old style and the new. ^ 

Hinsdale was incorporated in 1753. Before the southern 
boundary line of the province was determined it formed a part 
of Northfield, Massachusetts, which was granted and settled as 
early as 1683 ; and it included the town of Vernon, Vermont, 
until the erection of the Hampshire grants into a State. It 
■was known as Fort Dummar for many years. The inhabitants 
suffered severely from the Indians in 1746, 1747, and 1748, and 
Cj^ain in 1755, losing many of their number. 

During the year Keene and Swanzey, Upper and Lower 

^ I. E. Sargeant. 



1/531 ROVAI. rKO\INCE. 221 

Ashuelot, were iiicor[K)ratccl, as also vvei'e Charlestovvn, Number 
Four, and Westmoreland, Number Two, or Great Meadow. 
Keene had been settled as early as 1734; two years later a 
meeting house was built. In 1745 the town was attacked by 
Indians ; and the next year the inhabitants, who had taken 
refuge in the fort, beheld their houses and church burnt, while 
they defended themselves within its walls. In 1747 the settle- 
ment was abandoned and was not occupied again until 1753. 
In 175s the town was again inflicted by an Indian attack. 

Swanzey was settled at about the same time as Keene, and 
suffered so much from Indian depredations from 1741 to 1747 
that the inhabitants abandoned their settlement and returned 
to Massachusetts. Many of them returned about three years 
later and soon afterward were incorporated. 

Charlestown, Number Four, was settled by Massachusetts 
people soon after its grant was made and a fort was built in 
1743. The town suffered much loss from Indians in 1746, and 
the next year the place was abandoned by the inhabitants, but 
a garrison was stationed at the fort to protect the frontiers. 
The charter was granted to the original settlers, who had 
returned to their deserted homes in the meanwhile. 

Westmoreland was first settled in 1741, and underwent the 
usual hardship of the Indian war, which soon followed ; but 
the mischief done was of no great magnitude. 

1 While the trial of the Bow case was going on, a warrant 
was issued by the government of New Hampshire, May 30, 
1753, for raising an assessment of sixty pounds on all polls and 
estates ratable by law within the township of Bow ; and another 
warrant, July 26, 1753, for raising thirty-one pounds four 
shillings, to be collected and paid in on or before the 25th of 
December next ensuing. The persons on whom these taxes 
were to be assessed were, with perhaps three or four excep- 
tions, inhabitants of Rumford. 

Up to this time a town meeting had never been held bv 'the 
inhabitants of Bow proper; and on the 30th of June, 1753, a 
special act was passed, appointing Daniel Pierce, Esq., to warn 

■ Rev. Dr. N. Bouton's Histon- of Concord. 



223 iiisi()i;v oi'' m;\v iiami'>!iike. [1755 

aiul call a meeting of the inhabitants uf Bow — the preamble to 
said act setting forth that the " inhabitants had never held a 
meeting as a town." The meeting was accordingly notified and 
held July 25, 1753. But unexpected difficulties were here 
encountered. 

The selectmen rc|iorted to the governor : " Though we are 
ready ( and that with cheerfulness ) to obey every order of 
government, yet that we are at a loss as to the boundaries of 
said Bow, and consequently do not know who the inhabitants 
are that we are to assess said sums upon. That the pro[)rietors 
of Bow, in running out the bounds of said town, have, as we 
conceive, altered their bounds several times ; and further, that 
one of those gentlemen that purchased Captain Tufton Mason's 
right to the lands in said Province, has given it as his opinion 
that said proprietors have not as yet run out the bounds of said 
town agreeable to their charter, but that their southeast side 
line should be carried up about three quarters of a mile further 
toward the northwest ; and there is lately ( by his order ) a 
fence erected along some miles near about said place, designed 
( as we suppose) as a division fence between said Bow and land 
yet claimed bv said purchasers. 

" And that, on the other hand, the inhabitants of Pennycook, 
formerly erected into a district by a special act of the General 
Assembly of this Province (though they object nothing against 
submitting to order of government) refuse to give us an 
invoice of their estates ( that is, such of them as we have asked 
for the same), alleging that they do not lay in Bow, and that 
this said Assembly did as good as declare in said district act." 

The next step, February 12, 1753, on the part of the inhabi- 
tants of Rumford, was to appoint Rev. Timothy Walker and 
Benjamin Rolfe, Esq., to represent "to the King's most 
Excellent Majesty in Council, the manifold grievances they 
labored under, by reason of the law suits commenced against 
them by the proprietors of Bow, and by being for several years 
past deprived of all corporation privileges :" in August follow- 
ing, a petition was preferred to the iVIassachusetts go\^ernment, 
representing their grievances and asking " such relief as in their 



I753j ROYAL PROVINCE. 225 

great wisdom tlicy sliould see fit to grant." In answer to wliich 
latter petition one hundred pounds were granted. 

Deputed as an agent for the proprietors of Rumford, Rev. 
Mr. Walker sailed for England in the fall of 1753, and pre- 
sented " to the King's most Excellent Majesty in Council," a 
petition, drawn up, as appears, by himself, from which extracts 
are taken and which " most humbly sheweth — 

" That the lands contained in said town of Rumford were 
granted by the government of the Province of the Massachu- 
setts Bay, in the year 1725, and were supposed, according to 
the con.struction of the Massachusetts Charter and the deter- 
mination of his Majesty King Charles the Second, in 1677, to 
lay wholly within the said Province, though bounded on New 
Hampshire, seeing no part of said lands extended more than 
three miles from the river Merrimack towards New Hampshire. 
Your petitioners and their predecessors very soon engaged in 
bringing forward the settlement of the above granted lands, 
though in the midst of the Indian country, and near thirty 
miles beyond any English plantation, and have defended them- 
selves more at their own cost than at the charge of the public, 
through the late war with ye French and Indians ; and from a 
perfect wilderness, where not one acre of land had ever been 
improved, they had made a considerable town, consisting of 
more than eighty houses, and as many good farms ; and your 
humble petitioner, Timothy Walker, was regularly ordained 
the minister of the church and parish in said town in the year 
1730, and has continued there ever since. 

"Your petitioners beg leave further to represent to your 
Majesty, that at the time of the aforesaid grant they had no 
apprehension that their bounds would ever be controverted by 
the Province of New Hampshire ; but it has so happened that 
by your Majesty's late determination of ye boundary line 
between ye two Provinces, the whole of the aforesaid township 
falls within the province of New Hampshire. Soon after the 
aforesaid determination, your petitioners made their humble 
application to your Majesty in Council, that they might be 
restored to your Province of the Massachusetts Bay, which 



224 HI^TOKV OK NEW HAMPSHIKE. L'753 

your Majesty was pleased to disallow ; but your humble 
petitioners have dutiful!)- submitted to the government of your 
Majesty's Province of New Hampshire ever since they have 
been under it, and with so much the greater cheerfulness 
because they were well informed your Majesty had been 
graciously pleased to declare that however the jurisdiction of 
the two governments might be altered, yet that the private 
property should not be affected thereby. 

" But notwithstanding this your Majesty's most gracious 
■declaration your poor petitioners have for several years past 
been grievously harassed by divers persons under color of a 
grant made by the government and council of New Hampshire 
in the year 1727, to sundry persons and their successors, now 
■called the Proprietors of Bow. 

" Your petitioners further humbly represent, that the said 
■grant of Bow was not only posterior to that of Rumford, but is 
likewise extremely vague and uncertain as to its bounds, and 
its being very doubtful whether it was the intent of the governor 
and council of New Hampshire that it should infringe upon the 
Massachusetts grant of Rumford ; and notwithstanding the 
■grant of Bow has now been made so many years, there are but 
three or four families settled upon it, and those since the end 
of the late French war; the proprietors choosing rather to 
■distress your petitioners by forcing them out of the valuable 
improvements they and their predecessors have made at the 
■expense of their blood and treasure, than to be at the charge of 
making any themselves. But your petitioners' greatest mis- 
fortune is, that they cannot have a fair, impartial trial, for that 
the governor and most of ye council are proprietors of Bow, 
and by them not only ye judges are appointed, but also ye 
officers that impanels ye jury, and the people also are generally 
disaffected to your petitioners on account of their deriving 
their titles from the Massachusetts ; and all the actions that 
have hitherto been brought are of so small value, and, as your 
petitioners apprehend, designed so that by a law of the 
Province there can be no appeal from the judgments of the 
courts to vour Majestv in council; and if it were otherwise the 



1753] ROVAL PROVINCE. 22$ 

charges that vvoulcl attend such appeals would be greater than 
the value of the land, or than the party defending his title 
would be able to pay; and without your Majesty's gracious 
interposition your petitioners must be compelled to give u|i 
their estates, contrary to your Majesty's favorable interposition 
in their behalf. 

"Your petitioners further beg leave humbly to represent, 
that, while they were under the government of Massachusetts 
Bay, they enjoyed town privileges by an act specially made for 
that purpose in the year 1733, and expressly approved by your 
Majesty in the year 1737 ; but the utmost they could obtain 
since their being under New Hampshire has been erecting them 
into a district for a short term only ; which term having expired 
near four years ago, they have been without any town privileges 
ever since, notwithstanding their repeated applications to the 
governor and council ; and they are not able to raise any 
moneys for the support of their minister, and the necessary 
charges of their school and poor, and other purposes ; nor have 
they had any town officers for the upholding government and 
order, as all other towns in both the Provinces of New Hamp- 
shire and the Massachusetts Bay usually have. Under these 
our distresses we make our most humble application to your 
Majesty." 

While in England the first time Mr. Walker succeeded, so far 
as to obtain a hearing of the case before his Majesty, which 
should take place the ensuing winter. He engaged Sir 
William Murray, afterward Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, as his 
counsellor and advocate, with whom, it is said, he formed a 
particular acquaintance. But it was necessary for him to go 
again. Accordingly, in October, 1754, Benjamin Kolfe, Esq., 
presented a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts, in 
which he acknowledged the receipt of one hundred pounds 
sterling the previous year, and asked for still further aid. 

While the proprietors of Rumford sought pecuniary aid from 
the government of Massachusetts, the proprietors of Bow also 
applied for the same purpose to that of New Hampshire, and 
obtained a grant of one hundred pounds to aid them in carrying 
on the suit. 



226 



IIISTOKV (IK NEW IlAMl'SlllUE. 



['754 



After the exploration of Field and others it was more than a 
century before we again hear of white men within the limits in 
Coos County. The English were pushing their settlements up 
the valleys of the Connecticut and the Merrimack, trappers 
penetrated the wilderness far above the settlements, and they 
often met the Indians on these hunting excursions and evidently 
were on friendly terms with them. But the French as well as 
the Indians were becoming jealous of the extension northward of 
the English settlements. As the English contemplated laying 



"^^ 




WHITE MOUNTAIN SCENE. 

out two towns in the spring of 1752, which should embrace the 
Coos meadows, the Indians remonstrated and threatened. It is 
probable, however, that their threats were not known to all the 
settlers, for four young men from Londonderry were hunting 
on Baker's River, in Rumney; two of these, John Stark and 
Amos Eastman, were surprised and captured by the Indians, 



'754j 



KOVAI, MUIVINCE. 



227 



April 28, 1752. They were taken to Coos, near where ]Ia\er- 
hill now is, and where two of the Indians had been left to kill 
L;anie against their return. The next day they proceeded to the 
upper Coos, the intervales in the south-west part of Coos 
County, from which place they sent Eastman with three of 
their number to St. Francis. The rest of the party spent some 
time in hunting on the streams that flow into the Connecticut, 




aCENE !N COOS COUNTY 



and they reached the St. Francis June 9, when Stark joined 
his companion, Eastman, but they were both soon after ran- 
somed and they returned to their homes. From this and other 
circumstances, it is altogether probable that John Stark, after- 
wards so famous in American history, was the first white man 
who ever saw the broad intervales of the Upper Coos. 



228 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['754 

Notwithstanding the threatening attitude of the French and 
Indians a company was organized in the spring, 1753, to survey 
or lay out a road from Stevenstown (Franklin) to the Coos 
meadows. Captain Lacheus Lovewell was commander, Caleb 
Page surveyor, and John Stark guide. There has been 
much speculation in regard to the organization and object of 
Captain Lovcwell's company, but in the account here given I 
have followed Mr. C. E. Potter. 

The best known of all the expeditions to the Coos County 
was that of Captain Peter Powers. They commenced their 
tour Saturday, June 15, 1754. Starting from Concord, they 
followed the Merrimack River to Franklin, the Pemigewasset 
River to Plymouth, Baker's River to Wentworth, and then they 
crossed over on to the Connecticut via Baker's Pond. They 
were ten days in reaching " Moose Meadowg," which were in 
Piermont, and on June 3 they came to what is now Jdhn's 
River, in Dalton ; this they called Stark's River. They went 
as far north as Israel's River, named by them Power's River, in 
Lancaster, when they concluded to go no farther with a full 
scout, but Captain Powers and two of his men went five miles 
furtker up the Connecticut, probably as far as Northumberland, 
where they found that the Indians had a large camping place, 
which they had left not more than a da)' or two before. On 
July 2 they broke up their camp on Israel River and began 
their march homeward. The knowledge we have of this expe- 
dition is derived chiefly from a journal of Captain Powers, in the 
Historical Sketches of Coos County by Rev. Grant Powers. 
The journal of Captain Powers is fragmentary and meagre, and 
the comments made by the author of the sketches have not 
given us any additional light, but have rather added obscurity 
to the original narrative. 

Grant Powers says that the object of the expedition was dis- 
covery ; but if Captain Powers' company was the one referred 
jto by Governor Wentworth in a message of May 4, 1754, and 
in one of Dec. 5, 1754, they certainly went to see if the French 
were building a fort in the Upper Coos. As this was the only 
expedition fitted out during the year that went in this direction. 



I 755 I KOVAL PROVINCE. 229 

it is quite certain that this is the one to which the message 
iclened. But it is something to be able to say that Captain 
I'ctcr Powers, with his command, was the first body of English- 
speaking people who camped on the broad intervales of Coos 
County.^ 

Somersworth was set off from Dover in 1754. 

-During the French ami Indian wars small bodies of soldiers 
were often employed to " watch and ward " the frontiers, and 
protect their defenceless communities from the barbarous assaults 
of Indians, turned upon them from St. Francis antl Crown Point. 
Roljert Rogers had in him just the stuff required in such a soldier. 
We shall not, therefore, be surprised to find him on scouting 
(hity in the Merrimack Valley, under Captain Ladd, as early as 
1746, when he was but nineteen years of age ; and, three years 
later, engaged in the same service, under Captain Ebenezer 
Ivistman, of Pennycook. Si.v years afterwards, in 1753, the mus- 
ter rolls show him to have been a member of Captain John Goff's 
company, and doing like service. Such was the training of a 
self-reliant mind and a hardy physique for the ranging service, 
in which they were soon to be employed. 

In 1749, as Londonderry became filled to overflowing with i^e- 
])eated immigrations from the North of Ireland, James Rogers, 
the father of Robert, a proprietor, and one of the early settlers of 
the township, removed therefrom to the woods of Dunbarton, 
and settled anew in a section named Montelony, from an Irish 
place in which he had once lived. This was before the settle- 
ment of the township, when its territor)' existed as an unsejxi- 
rated part only of the domain. He may, quite likely, have been 
attracted hither by an e.xtensive beaver meadow or pond, which 
would, with a little improvement, afford grass for his cattle, 
while he was engaged in clearing the rich uplands which sur- 
rounded it.. 

Six years only after his I'emoval (1755), he was unintention- 
ally shot by a neighbor whom he was going to visit ; the latter 
mistaking him for a bear, as he indistinctly saw him passing 
through the woods. 

' J. H. Hunlinglon. = J. 1). W.,lker, 



230 IllSTOKV OF NF.W II A M p>n IklC. L'755 

The thirteen American Colonies had, at that time, all told, of 
both white and black, a population of about one million and a 
half of souls (1,425,000). The French people of Canada num- 
bered less than one hundred thousand. 

The respective claims to the central part of the North Ameri- 
can continent by ICngland and France were conflicting and ir- 
reconcilable. The former, by right of discovery, claimed all 
the territory upon the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to 
Florida, and bv virtue of numerous grants the right to all west 
of this to the Pacific Ocean. The latter, by right of occupation 
and exploration, claimed Canada, a portion of New England and 
New York, and the basins of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, to- 
gether with all the territory upon the streams tributary to these, 
or a large part of the indefinite West. 

To maintain her claims France had erectetl a cordon of forts 
extending diagonally across the continent from the mouth of the 
St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. It one will follow, in 
thought, a line starting at Louisburg, and thence running up 
this great river to Quebec ami Montreal, and thence up Lake 
Champlain to Crown Point and Ticontleroga, and on westward 
and south-westwai'd to Frontenac, Niagara, and Detroit, and 
thence down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, he will 
trace the line across which the two nations looked in defiance 
at each other, and instantaneously see that the claims of France 
were inadmissible, ami that another war was inevitable. It 
mattered little that of the forty-five years immediately j^reced- 
ing the treaty of Ai.\- La Chapelle, fourteen, or one-third of the 
whole number, had been years of war between these two neigh- 
bors. They were now, after a peace of only half a dozen years, as 
ready for a fresh contest as if they were to meet for the first 
time upon the battle field. In fact, another conflict was unavoid- 
able ; a conflict of the Teuton with the Gaul ; of mediasvalism 
with daylight ; of conservatism with progress. 

Hostilities may be said to have been commenced by the French, 
when, on the i8th day of April, 1754, they dispossessed the 
Ohio company of the fort which they were erecting at the forks 
of the Ohio river, afterwards named Fort Du Ouesne. 



1-55] KIIVAI, I'RONIXCE. 231 

Tlic plan of a Colonial Confederation, formed at the Albany 
convenlioa in July of that year, having failed of acceptance 
by the mother country and the colonies both, the home govern- 
ment was forced to meet the exigency by the use of British 
troops, aided by such others as the several Provinces were will- 
ing to furnish. 

The campaign of the next year (1755) embracetl : 

1st. An expedition, under General Braddock, for the capture 
of Fort Du Quesne. 

2nd. A second, under General Shirley, for the reduction of 
Fort Niagara, which was not prosecuted. 

3rd. A third, under Colonel Moncton, against the French 
settlements on the Bay of Fundy, resulting in the capture and 
deportation of the Acadians. 

4th. A fourth, under General William Johnson, against 
Crown Point, a strong fortification, erected by the French, in 
the very heart of New England and New York, whence Innum- 
erable bands of Indians had been dispatched by the French to 
murder the defenceless dwellers upon the English frontiers, par- 
ticularly those of New Hampshire, to destroy their cattle and to 
burn their buildings and other property. 

To the army of this latter expedition New Hampshire contri- 
buted, in the early part of this year, a regiment of ten compa- 
nies, the first being a company of Rangers, whose captain was 
Robert Rogers, and whose second lieutenant was John Stark. 

But a few words just here in explanation of the character of 
this ranging branch of the English army. It was a product of 
existing necessities in the military service of that time. Most 
of the country was covered with primeval forests and military 
operations were largely prosecuted in the woods or in limited 
clearings. The former were continually infested with Indians, 
lying in ambush for the perpetration of any mischief for which 
tbey might have opportunity. 

It became necessary, therefore, in scouring the forest to drive 
tliese miscreants back to their lairs, as well as in making military 
reconnoissances, to have a class of soldiers acquainted with In- 
dian life and warfare ; preparcfl, not only to meet the Indian on 



232 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['755 

his own ground, but to fight him in his own fashion. The Brit- 
ish regular was good for nothing at such worlv. If sent into 
the woods he was quite sure either not to return at all, or to 
come back without his scalp. And the ordinary provincial was 
not very much better. From this necessity, therefore, was 
evolved the " Ranger." 

He was a man of vigorous constitution, inured to the hard- 
ships of forest life. He was capable of long marches, day after 
ilay, upon scant rations, refreshed by short intervals of sleep 
while rolled in his blanket upon a pile of boughs, with no other 
shelter but the sky. He knew the trails of the Indian.s, as well 
as their ordinary haunts and likeliest places of ambush. He 
knew, also, all the courses of the streams and the carrying 
places between them. He understood Indian wiles and warfare, 
and was prepared to meet them. 

Stand such a man in a pair of stout shoes or moccasins ; cover 
his lower limbs with leggins and coarse small clothes ; give him 
a close-fitting jacket and a warm cap ; stick a small hatchet in 
his belt ; hang a good-sized powder-horn by his side, and upon 
his back buckle a blanket and a knapsack stuffed with a moder- 
ate supply of bread and raw salt pork ; to these furnishings add 
a good-sized hunting-knife, a trusty musket and a small flask of 
spirits, and you have an average New Hampshire Ranger of the 
Seven Years' War, ready for skirmish or pitched battle ; or, for 
the more common duty of reconnoitering the enemy's force and 
movements, of capturing his scouts and provision trains, and 
getting now ant! then a prisoner, from whom all information 
possible would be extorted ; and, in short, for annoying the 
French and Indian foe in every possible way. 

If you will add three or four inches to the average height of 
such a soldier, give him consummate courage, coolness, readi- 
ness of resource in extremities, together with intuitive knowl- 
edge of the enemy's wiles, supplemented with a passable 
knowledge of French and Indian speech, you will have a toler- 
able portrait of Captain Rol^ert Rogers at the beginning of our 
Seven Years' War. 

He received his fii'st captain's commission in the early part 



1/551 KOVAI. rKO\INCE. 2^1 

of 1755, and was employetl by the New Hampshire government 
in building a fort at the mouth of the Ammonoosuc river and 
in guarding its Northern and Western frontiers until July, when 
he was ordered to Albany to join the army of Major-Generai 
Johnson. His first service there was in fiu'nishiug escort, with 
a company of one hundred men, to a proxision train from 
Albany to Fort Edward. From this latter |)oint he was after- 
wards repeatedly despatched, with smaller bodies of men, up 
the Hudson river, and down Lake George and Lake Champlain 
to reconnoiter the French forts. Some of these e.xpeditions- 
e.xtended as far north as Crown Point and were enlivened with 
sharp skirmishes. He was absent up the Hudson upon one of 
these when the French were defeated at the battle of Lake 
George and Baron Dieskan was made prisoner. 

This year of 1755 was one of the most eventful of the early 
American history. It marks the fatal defeat of the disciplined 
little army of the intrepid but despotic General Kraddock, who 
said that the savages might be formidable to raw American 
militia, but could never make any impression upon the King's 
regulars ; but who, had he survived the fight, would have seen 
the remnants of his boasted regulars saved from utter annihila- 
tion by the bravery of these same American raw militia, skil- 
fully and valorously handled by the young American militia 
colonel, George Washington. 

'Upon the breaking out of the " Seven Years' War " John Stark 
was commissioned by the governor as second lieutenant of 
Rogers' company of Rangers, attached to Blanchard's regiment. 
Captain Rogers mustered a company of rugged foresters, every 
man of whom, as a hunter, could hit the size of a dollar at a hun- 
dred yards distance ; could follow the trail of man or beast ; endure 
the fatigue of long marches, the pangs of hunger, and the cold 
of winter nights, often passed without fire, shelter, or covering 
other than their common clothing, a blanket, perhaps a bear- 
skin, and the boughs of the pine or hemlock. Their knowledge 
of Indian character, customs, and manners was accurate. They 
were principally recruited in the vicinity of Amoskeag falls, 

' I'.eorge Stark. 



2^4 IIISI'OUV Ol' NIW IIAMCSllIKE. L'755 

where Rogers, a resident of the neighboring town of Dunbar- 
ton, which then extended to the Merrimack river, was accus- 
tomed to meet them at the annual fishing season. They were 
men wiio could face with equal resolution the savage animals, 
•or the still more savage Indians of their native woods, and 
whose courage and fidelity were undoubted. 

It was early in the summer of this stirring year of 1755 that 
Rogers' company of Rangers received orders to march 
Ihrougli the pathless forests to join their regiment at Fort 
Edward, the head-quarters of General Johnson's army, which 
place they reached early in August, a short time before the 
desperate attack made on Johnson by the French and Indians 
at the south end of Lake George, near Bloody pond, so named 
from the slaughter on this occasion. 

' In tlie spring of 1755, when an expedition was being fitted 
out to attack the French at C.'rown Point, so little was known of 
the country between the Merrimack and Lake Champlain, it 
was supposed that the Upper Coos Meadows were upon the 
direct route from Salisbury Fort (Franklin) to Crown Point, 
hence Governor Wentworth directed Colonel Blanchard to stop 
when on his march and build a fort at these meadows. While 
he was delayed in making his preparations for the march, Captain 
Robert Rogers, with his company of Rangers and detachments 
from other companies, were sent forward to build a fort. It was 
located on the east bank of the Connecticut, just south of the 
nioutli of the Upper Ammonoosuc, and it was called Fort Went- 
worth, in honor of the governor. , When completed, the com- 
mand continued their march to Crown Point. 

" In the spring of 1755, Jona. Lovewell was appointed by the 
General Court of New Hampshire to warn a town meeting in 
Bow, 22d of April, for the choice of officers, &c., which he ac- 
cordingly did, and subsequently made return that he warned the 
meeting and attended as moderator, at the place and time 
appointed ; 'but tliat t/iov was but one inhabitant of said Bozu 
ihat attended.' This apparent disregard of their authority seems 
to have been resented by the government ; for, at the very next 

■ J, H. Hantingloii. 



17551 KovAi. rkoviNCK. 235 

session, tliey jiassed what was called tlic ' Hinv Act,' foi- assess- 
ing;" and collecting taxes in the ret'ractor\ town ; in which thev 
set forth 'that in contempt of the la.w, and in defiance of the 
government, the said town of Bow refused to meet at the time 
and place appointed,' &c. As a remedy for this it was enacted 
' That Ezra Carter antl Moses Foster, Esqs., and John Chand- 
ler, gentlemen, all of said Bow — he assessors to assess the ]iolls 
and estates within said town of Bow. * * the sum of five 
Jiniidred and eiglity poniids and sixteen shillings, new tenor bills 
of ])ublic credit.' Not having complied with the act, they were 
doomed, and feeling themselves oppressed, petitioned for for- 
bearance and a redress of grievances." ^ 

While the inhabitants of Rumford were thus complaining of 
grievances and struggling with their difificulties, the proprietors 
of How proper became sensible that the controversy in which 
they were involved was detrimental to their interest, and, to 
" save the great expense which inevitably attends contention," 
they proposed terms of "accommodation and agreement," having 
respect, however, chiefly to settlers of Suncook, which resulted, 
in 1759, in an act for incorporating a parish, partly within the 
places known by the name of Suncook and Buck-street, bv the 
name of Pembroke. 

The Provincial government of New Hampshire never recog- 
nized the existence of the township of Suncook. That part of 
Allenstovvn lying north of the Suncook river was known as early 
as the French and Indian war as Buck-street. According to 
Holland's map of New Hampshire, published in England just 
after the revolution, there was a gore of land between Bow and 
AUenstown ungranted by the New Hampshire proprietors. 
This gore can be traced in Canigain's map, published in 1816. 
in Walling's map of Merrimack county, published in 1858, and 
in the map accompanying Hitchcock's Geological Report, jjub- 
lished in 1826. The place called Suncook in the charter from 
New Hampshire evidently means to include this ungranted gore, 
as it had no other name by which it could be briefly designated. 

Upon the decease of Geaeral Braddock, Governor Shirley suc- 
ceeded to the chief command of the English forces in North 

' li.!,-.. rf ( ,>ncorcl. 



C36 HISTOKV OK NEW 11 AM I'SII IKE. ['75^ 

America, and on the i Sth of March, 1756, Rogers received orders 
from him to repair to Boston for a personal conference. He 
reached Boston on the 23d of the same month, and as the result 
of his inter\'ievv with the governor was commissioned to recruit an 
independent corps of Rangers, to consist of sixty privates, an 
ensign, a lieutenant, and a captain. The corps was to be 
raised immediately. None were to be enlisted but " such as 
were accustomed to travelling and hunting, and in whose cour- 
age and fidelity the most implicit confidence ccukl be placed." 
They were, moreover, " to be subject to military discipline and 
the articles of war." The rendezvous was appointed at Albany, 
" whence to proceed with whale-boats to Lake George, and 
from time to time to use their best endeavors to distress the 
I<'rench and their allies by sacking, burning, and destroying 
their houses, barns, barracks, canoes, batteaux, etc., and by 
killing their cattle of every kind, and at all times to endeavor to 
waylay, attack, and destroy their convoys of provision, by land 
and by water, where they could be found." 

Within thirty days from the issuance of this commission, the 
enlistment of the new corps of Rangers was complete, many of 
his old company re-enlisting, and Rogers again selected John 
Stark for his ensign, or second lieutenant. Although no impor- 
tant military operations were attempted during this campaign, 
the Rangers were constantly on foot, watching the motions of 
the enemy at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, cutting off their 
convoys of supplies, and often making prisoners of sentinels at 
their posts. ^ 

The efficiency of the campaign of the next year (1756), which 
contemplated the taking of Crown Point, Niagara and Fort Du 
Ouesne, was seriously impaired by the repeated changes of 
Commander-in-Chief ; Major General Shirley being superseded 
in June by General Abercrombie, while he, about a month later, 
yielded the command to the inefficient Lord Loudon. The 
only occurrences of particular note during this campaign were 
the capture of our forts at Oswego by General Montcalm and 
the formal declarations of war by the- two licllignents. 

1 J 1;. W .ilkti 



1756] KOVAI, I'KiniNL'E. 237 

» 

Rogers and his men were stationed at Fort William Henry, 
and made repeated visits to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, to 
ascertain the power of the enemy, and to annoy him as they 
had opportunity. They went down Lake George, sometimes by 
land upon its shores, and sometimes by water and in boats. In 
the winter their land marches were frequently upon snow-shoes, 
and their boats were exchanged for skates. On such occasions 
each Ranger was generally his 'in commissary, and carried his 
own supplies. 

In his journal for this year (1756) Rogers notes thirteen of 
these expeditions as worthy of record. The first was down 
Lake George on the ice, in January, with seventeen men, 
resulting in the capture of two prisoners, and two sledges laden 
with provisions. 

The second was made in February, with a party of fifty men, 
to ascertain the strength and operations of the French at Crown 
Point. Having captured one prisoner at a little village near by 
the fort, they were discovered and obliged to retire before the 
sallying troops of the garrison. With very marked sangfroid 
he closes his account of this reconnoissance by saying : " We 
employed ourselves while we dared stay in setting fire to the 
houses and barns in the village, with which were consumed large 
quantities of wheat, and other grain ; we also killed about fifty 
cattle and then retired, leaving the whole village in flames." 

There often appears a ludicrous kind of honesty in the simple 
narratives of this journal. He occasionally seized certain stores 
of the enemy which a Ranger could destroy only -with regret. 
He naively remarks, in narrating the capture in June, of this 
same year, of two lighters upon Lake Champlam, manned by 
twelve men, four of whom they killed : " We sunk and destroyed 
their vessels and cargoes, which consisted chiefly of wheat and 
flour, wine and brandy ; some few casks of the latter we care- 
fully concealed." 

His commands on such occasions varied greatly in numbers, 
according to the exigency of the service, all the way from a 
squad of ten men to two whole companies ; and the excursions 
just mentioned afford fair specimens of the work done by the 
Rangers under Rogers this year. 



23'S HISTOKV OF NEW IIAMI'SHIKE. I 1 756 

IJut Captain Rogers had qualities of a higher order, which 
commended him to his superiors. His capacity as a Ranger 
commander had attracted the notice of the ofificers on duty at 
Lake George. The importance of this branch of the service 
had also become apparent, and we shall not be surprised to 
learn that he was commissioned anew as captain of an inde- 
pendent company of Rangers, to be paid by the King. This 
company formed the nucleus of the famous corps since known 
as " Rogers' Rangers." 

In July another company vvas raised, and again in December 
two more, thereby increasing the Ranger corps to four compa- 
nies. To anticipate, in a little more than a year this was far- 
ther enlarged by the addition of five more, and Captain Rogers 
was promotetl to the rank of Major of Rangers, becoming thus 
the commander of the whole corps. 

The character of the service expected of this branch of the 
army was set forth in Major-General Shirley's orders to its com- 
mander in 1756, as follows, viz. : "From time to time, to use 
your best endeavors to distress the French and allies by sack- 
ing, burning, and destroying their houses, barns, barracks, 
canoes, and battoes, and by killing their cattle of every kind ; 
and at all times to endeavor to way-lay, attack and destroy their 
convoys of provisions by land and water in any part of the coun- 
try where he could find them."' 

The campaign of 1757 contemplated only the capture of 
Louisburg. To the requisite preparations Lord Loudon di- 
rected all his energies. Having collected all the troops which 
could be spared for that purpose, he sailed for Halifa.x on the 
twentieth of June, with six thousand soldiers, among them being 
four companies of Rangers under the command of Major 
Rogers. Upon arriving in Halifax his army was augmented by 
the addition of five thousand regulars and a powerful naval 
armament. We have neither time nor inclination to consider 
the conduct of Lord Loudon on this occasion farther than to 
say that his cowardice and imbecility seem wonderful. Find- 
ing that, in all probabilitv, Louisburg could not be taken with- 



1/5^] KOVAL l■KOVI^XE. 239 

out some one getting hurt, he returned to New York without 
striking a blow. If about this time our heroic commander of 
the Rangers used some strong language far from sacred, it will 
become us to remember " Zeke Webster" and think as chari- 
tably of his patriotic expletives "as we can." He returned to 
New York three weeks after the surrender of Fort William 
Henry, where, with his Rangers, he might have done something, 
at least, to prevent the horrible massacre which has tarnished 
the fair fame of Montcalm indelibly. 

England and America both were humbled in the dust by the 
events of 1757 and 1758. Failure, due to the want of suffici- 
ent resources is severe, but how utterly insufferable when, 
with abundant means, incompetency to use them brings defeat. 
Still, we are under greater obligation to Lord Loudon than 
we are wont to think. His imbecility helped rouse the British 
nation and recall William Pitt to power, whose vigor of pur- 
pose animated anew the people of other countries and ])rom- 
ised an early termination of French dominion in America. ' 

Sandown was incorporated in 1756. 

^Rev. John Houston, the first pastor of the Presbyterian 
church in Bedford, N. H., was born in Londonderry, N. H., 
in 1723. His parents were emigrants from the north of Ire- 
land, and known as Scotch-Irish. 

He was educated at Princeton, N. J., graduating in 1753. 
He studied divinity in his native town with the Rev. David 
McGregor, pastor of the church in the east parish of that town. 

Mr. Houston received his call to Bedford in August, 1756, 
and was ordained in September, 1757. His "stipend," as it 
was called, was to be equal to forty pounds sterling, but there 
was a provision by which the town, at its annual meeting, might 
vote to dispense with any number of Sabbaths which they 
chose, and the payment for those Sabbaths might be taken from 
the salary. 

By virtue of being the first settled minister in town, Mr. 
Houston was entitled to certain lands reserved for that purpose 
in the settlement of the town. These he received and they 

' I. p.. Walker. - Rev. C. W. W.illace 



240 UlSlllK^- HI- NEW IIAMl'SlllKE. L'7S^ 

added much to his small salary. He was also well-reputed for 
classical and theological learning, and his settlement gave pro- 
mise of usefulness and happiness. 

From all we can learn he was thus useful and happy for a 
number of years. Then commenced the dark and stormy 
period in the history of our country. Bedford was especially 
patriotic. Every man in town, over twenty-one years of 
age, except the minister, signed the following paper :" We do 
hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost 
of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms 
oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies 
against the united American colonies." Mr. Houston gave the 
following reasons for refusing to sign this declaration : 

Firstly, because he did not apprehend that the honorable 
■committee meant that ministers should take up arms, as being 
inconsistent with their ministerial charge. Secondly, because 
he was already confined to the county of Hillsborough ; there- 
fore he thinks he ought to be set at liberty before he should 
sign the said obligation. Thirdly, because there are three men 
belonging to his family already enlisted in the Continental 
army. 

These reasons were not regarded as sufficient, so. May 16, 
177s, the following article is found in a warrant for town meet- 
ing : "To see what method the town will take relating to Rev'd 
John Houston in these troublesome times, as we apprehend his 
praying and preaching to be calculated to intimidate the minds 
of his hearers, and to weaken their hands in defense of their 
just rights and liberties, as there seems a plan to be laid by 
Parliament to destroy both." 

We hear of no action on this article until June 15, 1775, 
when a vote was unanimously passed in which it was stated : 
■" Therefore, we think it not our duty, as men or Christians, to 
have him preach any longer for us as our minis^er." 

Thus closed the ministry of Rev. John Houston to the people 
of Bedford. From all the light which reaches us through the 
dimness of an hundred years, we have no doubt that both par- 
ties were truly sincere. Judged, however, by subsequent 



1756] ROVAL l-KOVINCE. 24I 

€vents, it is evident that the people were right and the minister 
wrong. That is, they were right in their patriotism, and he was 
wrong in his loyalty to the King. Still it is worthy of notice 
that the removal of Mr. Houston from his pastoral office in Bed- 
ford was followed by a long period of religious declension. 

1 In the early part of the winter of 1756-57, the English 
and French armies, under the respective commands of Lord 
Loudon and Gen. Montcalm, confronting each other in the 
vicinity of Lake George, retired to winter quarters ; the main 
body of the English regulars falling back on Albany and New 
York city, the provincial soldiers dismissed and sent to their 
homes, and the French falling back to Montreal. Each gen- 
eral, however, left his frontier posts well garrisoned, to be held 
as the base of further military operations the following season ; 
the force left by the French at their forts about Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point, at the northerly end of Lake George, being 
about 1 ,200 men, including Indians, and the English force at 
Fort Edward and Fort William Henry, near the southerly end 
of the lake, consisting mainly of four companies of Rangers, 
two companies at each fort. The company of Lieutenant Stark 
was posted at Fort Edward. All through the winter the 
Rangers patrolled the lake, and kept a vigilant outlook upon the 
French garrisons. 

In the middle of this winter a desperate battle was fought in 
the immediate vicinity of Ticonderoga, which, for numbers 
engaged, was one of the most bloody of the war, and in which 
Lieutenant John Stark won his commission as captain. 

On the 15th of January, 1757, Captain Rogers, with Lieu- 
tenant Stark and Ensign Page with fifty Rangers, left Fort 
Edward to reconnoitre, in more than usual force, the situation 
and condition of the enemy at the northerly end of the lake. 
The snow was four feet deep on a level. They halted at Fort 
William Henr}' one day to secure provisions and snow-shoes, 
and on the 17th, being reinforced by Captain Spikeman, 
Lieutenant Kennedy, and Ensigns Brewer and Rogers, with 

* Gen. George Stark. 



242 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['757 

about thirty Rangers, they started down Lake George on the 
ice, and at night encamped on the east side of the first 
narrows. 

On the morning of the iSth some ot the men who had been 
overcome by the severe exertions of the previous day's march 
were sent back, thus reducing the effective force to seventy- 
four men, officers included. This day they proceeded twelve 
miles farther down the lake, and encamped on the west shore. 
On the 19th, after proceeding three miles farther on the lake, 
they took to the west shore, put on their snow-shoes, and 
travelled eight miles to the north-west, and encamped three 
miles from the lake. On the 20th they travelled over the snow 
all day to the north-east, and encamped three miles from the 
west shore of Lake Champlain, half-way between Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point. The ne.xt day, January 21st, being now in 
the very heart of the enemy's country, they proceeded to watch 
the passage of parties on Lake Champlain, going and coming 
between the forts, and soon discovered a convoy of ten sleds 
passing down the lake from Ticonderoga to Crown Point. 
Lieutenant Stark was ordered, with twenty men, to capture the 
leading sled, while the main body attempted to prevent the 
others from going back. They succeeded in taking seven 
prisoners, six horses, and three sleds. The remainder of the 
sleds made good their escape, and gave the alarm at the fort. 
Valuable information was obtained from these captives, and it 
was also learned that the French garrisons had been recently 
considerably reinforced, and were on the alert to cut off all 
English scouting parties. The heavy French garrison at 
Ticonderoga being now informed by the fugitives of this auda- 
cious reconnaissance in their immediate vicinity, Rogers wisely 
decided to retire with all expedition. But he unwisely departed 
from the usual custom of the Rangers to return by a different 
route from that on which they came, and, in defiance of the 
counsels of his officers, retreated on his tracks. 

The day was rainy. On reaching the fires that they had kin- 
dled and camped by the night before, the Rangers halted to dry 
their guns and otherwise prepare for the expected conflict. It 



i757j KovAi TRnviNCE. 243 

was past noon when the little battalion had completed their prep- 
arations. F"orming in single file, with Captain Rogers in front, 
Captain Spikeman in the centre, and Lieutenant Stark in the rear, 
supported by their snow-shoes on the deep snow, they silently 
took up their homeward march. Their path lay oyer hilly 
ground and through thick woods, from whose dark depths they 
had reason to believe they were watched by the savage scouts 
of the enemy ; a belief but too soon verified, for on rising the 
brow of the hill, not a mile from the fires of their late camp, 
they received a volley of two hundred bullets, fired from the 
guns of the unseen enemy in ambush, at distances from five to 
thirty yards away. Rogers was wounded in the head, and sev- 
eral of the men were killed or wounded by the volley ; but 
fortunately the marksmanship of the enemy was, in this instance, 
faulty, and the effect comparatively slight. The habitual tactics 
of the Rangers, — to scatter when suddenly attacked by a supe- 
rior force, and to rally again upon some supporting point, — now 
stood them in hand. They had been under fire too many times 
to be thrown into a panic. Each man was for the time being 
his own commander. Each took his own way to the rallying 
point, exchanging shots with the enemy as he ran. That rally- 
ing point was John Stark, with his rear guard. Gathering 
around him, they awaited their pursuers. The surrounding 
trees of the thick forest were of large size. Each Ranger en- 
deavored to so place himself that a tree covered him partially 
from the shots of the enemy, and thus they awaited the second 
onset. No soldiers ever had more at stake. The French offi- 
cials at Montreal paid $11 each for EngUsh scalps, and ;^55 each 
for English prisoners — sufficient inducement to excite the 
savage cupidity of their Indian allies into desperate efforts to 
kill or capture ; and oftentimes the alternative fate of a prisoner 
was torture at the stake. The backwoodsman learned to give 
no quarter, and to expect none, in fighting this savage foe. 

All through the afternoon of this 21st of January, 1757, this 
woods fight raged. The Ranger measured carefully his charge 
of powder, rammed home the ball in a greased patch, and woe to 
the enemy who exposed his body or limbs to these expert marks- 



244 HISTORY OF NEW II AMI'SIIIKE. [^757 

men. Two hundred and fifty of the enemy went into that day's 
fight, and only one hundred and thirty-four came out of it ahve, 
one hundred and sixteen having been killed on the spot or died 
of wounds. The Rangers lost fourteen killed, six wounded, and 
six taken prisoners. 

As darkness came on, the surviving French and Indian force, 
although still outnumbering the English, retired to the cover of 
Ticonderoga. Captain Rogers having been disabled by two 
wounds, and Captain Spikeman killed, early in the action the 
command devolved upon Lieutenant Stark, who, as soon as 
the enemy ceased to press him, carefully looked after the 
wounded, secured the prisoners, and, taking both wounded and 
prisoners with him, commenced the tedious march homeward. 
Encumbered by the care of the wounded, and fatigued with the 
exertions of the day, their movements were necessarily slow, 
and the entire night was consumed in reaching the shore of 
Lake George, near where they left it on the 19th. The wounded, 
who during the night march had kept up their spirits, were by 
eight o'clock in the morning so overcome with cold, fatigue, and 
loss of blood that they could march no further. The nearest 
English post was forty miles away, and the enemy was less than 
ten miles in their rear, and might again attack them at any time. 
In this emergency Lieutenant Stark volunteered, with two Ran- 
gers, to make a forced march to Fort William Henry for succor, 
while the command, under the junior ofificers, undertook to de- 
fend and care for the wounded until help arrived. Without 
waiting for rest or refreshment after their all-day fight and all- 
night retreat, these three hardy volunteers continued on their 
march, and reached the fort the same evening. Hand-sleighs 
were immediately sent out, with a fresh party, to bring in the 
wounded, and reached them next morning. No greater feat of 
hardihood and endurance was ever performed ; a day of desper- 
ate fighting, followed by an all-night retreat, encumbered with 
the wounded, and then, without rest, these three volunteers 
making a forced snow-shoe march before night. Truly this 
school of war was a fitting preparation for the subsequent strug- 
gle of the Revolution. The decision, prudence, and courage of 



KOVAL I'KOVINCE. 



245 



Stcuk admittedly saved the detachment from complete destruc- 
tion, and he was immediately promoted to be a captain, filling 
the vacancy caused by the death of Captain Spikeman. 

Rogers was wounded twice and lost some twenty of his men. 
The P'rench, as was subsequently ascertained, lost one hundred 
and sixteen. The pro.ximity of Ticonderoga rendered vain the 
continuance of the contest, and he availed him of the shelter 
of the night to return to Fort William Henry. 

For this exploit he was highly complimented by General 
Abercrombie, and, at a later period of this same year, was 
ordered by Lord Loudon to instruct and train for the ranging 
service a company of British regulars. To these he devoted 
much time and prepared for their use the manual of instruction 
now found in his journals. It is clearly drawn up in twenty- 
eight sections and gives very succinctlv and lucidly the rules 
governing this mode of fighting. 

Captain Stark continued with the army during the succeeding 
campaigns of 1758 and 1759, his corps being constantly em- 
ployed in their accustomed service, and winning credit and com- 
mendation from the generals in command. 

The conquest of Canada, in 1760, put an end to military op- 
erations in North America, and Captain Stark, not being desir- 
ous of continuing in the British army, tendered his resignation, 
which was accepted. 

Lord Loudon was succeeded in the early part of 1758 by 
General Abercrombie and plans were matured for capturing the 
Lake forts, Louisburg and Fort Du Ouesne. By the close of 
November, the two last, with the addition of Fort Frontenac, 
were ours. The movement against Crown Point and Ticonde- 
roga did not succeed. In the assault upon the latter Rogers 
and his Rangers fought in the van and in the retreat brought up 
the rear. 

In the spring of this year (1758) Rogers went down Lake 
George at the head of about one hundred and eighty men, and 
near the foot of it had a desperate battle with a superior body 
of French and Indians. He reported on his return one hundred 
and fourteen of his party as killed or missing. Why he was not 



246 HIS'lOKV OF Ni'.W HAMl'SHIKE. 1^759 

annihilated is a wonder. General Montcalm, in a letter dated 
less than a month after the encounter, says : " Our Indians 
would give no quarter ; they have brought back one hundred 
and forty-six scalps." For his intrepidity on this occasion he 
was presented by General Abercrombie with the commission 
of Major of Rangers, before alluded to. 

Mr. Pitt proposed in the campaign ot 1759 the entire con- 
quest of Canada. Bold as was the undertaking it was substan- 
tially accomplished. Ticonderoga and Crown Point were 
abandoned in July, Fort Niagara capitulated the same month, 
and Quebec was surrendered in September. 

Their violation of a flag of truce in this last month now called 
attention to the St. Francis Indians, who had been for a century 
the terror of the New England frontiers, swooping down upon 
them when least expected, burning their buildings, destroying 
their cattle, mercilessly murdering their men, women and chil- 
dren, or cruelly hurrying them away into captivity. The time 
had now come for returning these bloody visits. The proffering 
of this delicate attention was assigned by Major General Am- 
herst to Rogers. In his order, dated September 13, he says: 
" You are this night to set out with the detachment, as ordered 
yesterday, viz., of 200 men, which you will take under your 
command and proceed to Missisquoi Bay, from whence you will 
march and attack the enemy's settlements on the south side of 
the river St. Lawrence in such a manner as you shall judge most 
effectual to disgrace the enemy, and for the success and honour 
of his majesty's arms. * * 

" Take your revenge, but don't forget that tho' those villains 
have dastardly and promiscuously murdered the women and 
children of all ages, it is my orders that no women or children 
are killed or hurt." 

In pursuance of these orders Major Rogers started the same 
day at evening. On the tenth day after he reached Missisquoi 
Way. On the twenty-third, with one hundred and forty-two 
Rangers, he came, without being discovered, to the environs 
of the village of St. Francis. The Indians had a dance the 
evening following his arrival and slept heavil)- afterwards. The 



1760] KOVAL PROVINCE. 247 

next morning, half an hour before sunrise, Rogers and his men 
fell upon them on all sides, and in a few minutes, ere they had 
time to arouse themselves and seize their arms, the warriors of 
that village were dead. A few, attempting to escape by the 
river, were shot in their canoes. The women and children were 
not molested. 

When light came it revealed to the rangers lines of scalps, 
mostly English, to the number of six hundred, strung upon 
poles above the doorways. Thereupon, every house except three 
containing supplies was fired, and their destruction brought 
death to a few who had before escaped it by concealing them- 
selves in the cellars. Ere noon two hundred Indian braves had 
perished and their accursed village had been obliterated.^ 

The operations of the next year (1760) ended this long and 
fierce struggle. The attempted re-capture of Quebec by the 
French was their final effort. The army of the Lakes em- 
barked from Crown Point for Montreal on the sixteenth day of 
August. " Six hundred Rangers and seventy Indians in whale- 
boats, commanded by Major Rogers, all in a line abreast, formed 
the advance guard." He and his men encountered some fight- 
ing on the way from Isle a Mot to Montreal, but no serious ob- 
stacle retarded their progress. The day of their arrival Mon- 
sieur de Vaudveuil proposed to Major-General Amherst a capit- 
ulation, which soon after terminated the French dominion in 
North America. 

The English troops, as will be remembered, entered Montreal 
on the evening of the eighth of September. On the morning 
of the twelfth Major Rogers was ordered by General Amherst 
to proceed westward with two companies of Rangers and take 
possession of the western forts, still held by the French, which, 
by the terms of the capitulation, were to be surrendered. 

He embarked about noon the next day with some two hun- 
dred Rangers in fifteen whale-boats, and advanced to the west 
by the St. Lawrence and the Lakes. On the seventh of No- 
vember they reached the mouth of the Cuyahoga, where the 
beautiful city of Cleveland now stands. The cross of St. 

' J. B. Walker. 



248 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [I/60 

George had never penetrated the wilderness so far before. 
Here they encamped and were soon after waited upon by mes- 
sengers from the great chieftain, Pontiac, asking by what right 
they entered upon his territory and the object of their visit. 
Rogers informed them of the downfall of the French in America, 
and that he had been sent to take possession of the French 
forts surrendered to the English by the terms of the capitula- 
tion. Pontiac received his message, remarking that he should 
stand in his path until morning, when he would return to him 
his answer. The next morning Pontiac came to the camp and 
the great chief of the Ottawas, haughty, shrewd, politic, ambi- 
tious, met face to face the bold, self-possessed, clear-headed 
Major of the British Rangers. It is interesting to note how 
calmly the astute ally of the French accepted the new order of 
things and prepared for an alliance with his former enemies. 
He and Rogers had several interviews and in the end smoked 
the pipe of peace. With dignified courtesy the politic Indian 
gave to his new friend free transit through his territory, pro- 
visions for his journey and an escort of Indian braves. Rogers 
broke camp on the twelfth and pushed onward towards Detroit. 
By messenger sent forward in advance he apprized Monsieur 
Belletre, commandant of the fort, of his near approach and the 
object of it. The astonished officer received him cautiously. 
Soon satisfied, however, of the truth of the unwelcome news 
thus brought, he surrendered his garrison. On the twenty- 
ninth of November the British flag floated from the staff which 
ever before had borne only the lilies of France. 

On the tenth of December, after disposing of the French 
force found in the fort, and having taken possession of the forts 
Miamie and Gatanois, with characteristic ardor Rogers pushed 
still farther westward for Michilimackinac. But it was a vain 
attempt. The season was far advanced. Turning eastward, 
after a tedious journey, he reached New York on the fourteenth 
of February, 1761. 

From New York, there is reason to suppose that he went 
this same year as Ca]itain of one of his Maiest\-'s Indeiiendent 
Companies of Foot to South Caiolina, and there aided Colonel 



1761] KOVAL rKoxrxcE. 249 

Grant in subduing the Clierokees. From this time onward for 
the next two years we lose sight of Major Rogers, but he re-ap- 
pears at the siege of Detroit in 1763. 

The next glimpse we get of Major Rogers is at Rum ford 
(now Concord) where he had a landed estate of some four or 
five hundred acres. A year or so after the surrender of Mon- 
treal he was married to I'llizabeth, daughter of Rev. Arthur 
Rrown, rector of St. John's Church, in Portsmouth, which he 
considered his residence. For three or four years, between 
176c and 1765, he trafficked a good deal in lands, buying and selling 
numerous and some quite extensive tracts. Some of these 
lands he seems to have purchased and some to have received in 
consideration of miHtary services. In 1764, Benning Went- 
worth, as governor of New Hampshire, conveyed to him as "a 
reduced officer " a tract of three thousand acres, lying in the 
southern part of Vermont. 

One conveyance made by him and bearing date December 
20, 1762, arrests our attention. By it he transferred to his 
father-in-law. Rev. Arthur Brown, before mentioned, some five 
hundred acres of land in Rumford (now Concord), together with 
" one negro man, named Castro Dickerson, aged about twenty- 
eight ; one negro woman, named Sylvia ; one negro boy, named 
Pomp, aged about twelve, and one Indian boy, named Billy, aged 
about thirteen. " If the object of the conveyance was to secure 
it as a home to his wife and children against any liabilities he 
might incur in his irregular life, the end sought was subse- 
quently attained, as the land descended even to his grand- 
children. 

The old "Rogers House," so called, is still standing upon the 
former estate of Major Rogers, on the east side and near the 
south end of Main Street, in Concord. It must be at least a 
hundred years old, and faces the south, being two stories high 
on the front side and descending by a long sloping roof to one 
in the rear. It was occupied by Arthur, son of Major Rogers, 
who was a lawyer by profession and died at Portsmouth, in 1841. 

Major Rogers did not prove a good husband, and seventeen 
years after their marriage his wife felt constrained, February 12, 



:>50 HISTORY OF NEW HAM I'Sll 1 HE. [1761 

1778, to petition the General Assembly of New Hampshire for 
a divorce from him on the ground of desertion and infidelity. 

Major Rogers was an author as well as soldier. He seems to 
have been in England in 1765, and to have there published two 
respectable volumes of his writings. One is entitled " Journals 
of Major Robert Rogers ;" the other is called "A concise view 
of North America." 

In 1770 he sailed for England, and there, strange as it may 
seem, the stalwart, fine-looking, wily ex-commandant was lionized. 

We see nothing more of Major Rogers until July, 1775, when 
he again appears in America as a major of the British Army, 
retired on half-pay. 

On the second day of December, a little more than a month 
later, in shabby garb, he calls upon President Wheelock, at 
Hanover. Later, at Medford, Massachusetts, he addressed a 
letter to General Washington, soliciting an interview ; but his 
reputation was such that the Commander-in-Chief declined to 
see him. 

In August, 1776, he accepted a commission of 1-ieutenant 
colonel commandant, signed by General Howe, and empower- 
ing him to raise a battalion of Rangers for the British army. 
To this work he now applied himself and with success. 

On the twenty-first of October, 1776, Rogers fought his last 
battle on American soil. His regiment was attacked at Mam- 
aronec, New York, and routed by a body of American troops. 

The next year he returned to England, where he is said to 
have died in the year 1800.' 

' J. B. Walke.-. 



CHAPTER X. 

ROYAL PkOnXCE, 1 760-1 775. 

H.w.p.iiiRi; Grants — Taxation by Parliament — Stamp Act — Its 
Ri;i>EAL — Resignation ok Governor Benning Wentworth — Gov- 
ernor John Wentworth — His Popilarity — Early Settlers — 
Their Customs — Gilmanton — Marlboro — Canaan — Enfield — 
Lyme — Oxeord — 11 \ r ii — Lehanon — Hanover — Goffstown — 
Newport — Plaini-ield — Danville — Peterboroigh — Bow Con- 
troversy — SvNcooK — Candia — Wilton — New Ipswich — Lisbon' 

— GiLsiM — Lancaster — Claremoxt — Wentworth — Salisbury 

— Milan — Berlin — Hillsborough — Fitzv>ili.ia.m — Annals of 
Portsmouth — Paul Revere — Capture of Fort William and 
Mary — Holderness and the Livermores — Wiiitefield — White 
Mountain Notch — Colonial Laws. 

"T^HI*. result of a series of wars for nearly three quarters of a 
century had given the English undisputed possession of the 
northern part of the Western Continent. During the last war 
the seasons were fruitful, and the colonies were able to supply 
their own troops with provisions. Then followed two years of 
scarcity. Added to the drought of 1761 a forest fire devastated 
Barrington and Rochester, and spread into Maine. A contro- 
versy had already commenced between the governors of New 
York and New Hampshire in regard to jurisdiction over the 
territory now included within the State of Vermont. As early 
as 1750 Governor Wentworth had granted the township of 
Bennington, and had continued to grant townships within the 
disputed territory until the breaking out of the last French and 
Indian war in 1754. In 1761 he granted no less than sixty 
townships on the western side, and eighteen townships on the 
eastern side, of the Connecticut river. The whole number of 



252 pi=;tory of xew iiami'shikk. ['763 

grants on the western side of the river amounted to one hundred 
and thirty-eight. In each the governor reserved a tract of five 
hundred acres for himself, clear of all fees and charges. The new 
townships were mostly filled with emigrants from Massachusetts 
and Connecticut. The western boundary of New Hampshire was 
determined in July, 1764, to be the western bank of the Con- 
necticut river and the jurisdiction of New Hampshire was with- 
drawn from the Hampshire grants and confined to its present 
limits. 

At this time commenced in the Colonies a series of events 
which was destined to lead to an open rupture with the mother 
country and finally to the independence of the American colo- 
nies and the formation of a republic. The war with the French 
had greatly added to the public debt of Great Britain ; and the 
home government, in 1763, attempted to impose taxes on the 
colonies without their consent. The colonies had borne their 
share of the expense of the war in America and had been fairly 
reimbursed for their outlays ; but a new ministry coming into 
power sought to draw the money from the colonies again in 
the shape of ta.xation. The first act of oppression was that 
restricting the intercourse which the American colonies had 
enjoyed with the West India Islands, quickly followed by the 
Stamp Act, similar to the one in force during the late Re- 
bellion. Petitions and remonstrances were drawn up and 
sent to England. Economy rendered the first Act of little 
value to England, while the Stamp Act could not be enforced. 
In 1765 the Assembly of Massachusetts proposed a congress 
of deputies from each colony to consult upon our common 
interest, as had been customary in times of common danger. 
The house of burgesses of Virginia passed spirited resolves 
asserting the rights of their country, and denying the claim of 
parliamentary taxation. In the English parliament those op- 
posed to the Stamp Act spoke of Americans as "Sons of 
Liberty ;" and the phrase was quickly adopted by associations 
in every colony. George Meserve was appointed to distribute 
the stamps in New Hampshire, but he resigned upon dis- 
covering the opposition to the Act in his native Province. 



1766] K(>\.\l l'K()\l\CE. 253 

Although New Hanipshire sent no delegates to the colo- 
nial Congress which met in New York in 1765, the Assem- 
bly endorsed the measures and resolutions which were adopted 
there, and sent similar petitions to England to be presented to 
the King and parliament by their agent, Barlow Trecothick, 
and John Wentvvorth, a young gentleman of Portsmouth who 
was then in England. 

A movement inaugurated in New Hampshire to do away with 
the courts, on account of their not complying with the provisions 
of the Stamp Act, was quickly suppressed. 

Governor Wentvvorth had received no official notification of 
the Stamp Act and had taken no active part in enforcing it. He 
was now in the decline of life, had made his fortune, and had 
occupied his office for twenty-five years. He did not deem it 
wise to oppose the popular will. 

The colonists, however, took the most effectual measures to 
procure the repeal of the obnoxious tax by agreeing to import 
no goods until its repeal. " The Sons of Liberty " became an 
organized and effective political body in 1766; but at that time 
were not disloyal to the home government. During the year 
attacks were made upon Governor Wentworth to unseat him 
from his office. Charges were preferred, but were not invest- 
igated ; and he was allowed to resign his office in favor of his 
nephew, John Wentworth, who arrived in the Province the 
following spring. 

In the prime of life, active and enterprising, polite and 
easy in his address, and placed in power by the same minister 
who had procured the repeal of the Stamp Act, Governor Went- 
worth becarhe a popular favorite. His inclination and interest 
led him to cultivate the good will of the people. Brought up to 
commercial pursuits, he had a taste for agriculture, and contrib- 
uted to the encouragement of agricultural pursuits. He began 
for himself a plantation in Wolfeborough, which led others to 
emulate his example in cultivating the wilderness. The rapid 
progress of the Province drew the attention of the people from 
obnoxious laws enacted for raising a revenue in the colonies. 
The Assembly voted him a salary of j£/00, equal to $2,333, 
besides ;^6o to ;iCioo for house rent. 



251 HISTOKY OF NEW II A >I I'SII I KE. L ' 7^5 

The governor encouraged the building of new roads and was 
instrumental in locating Dartmouth College at Hanover, in 1769. 
In 1771, the Province was cfivided into five counties, — Rock- 
ingham, Strafford, Hillsborough, Cheshire, and Grafton ; and 
specie payment was resumed. 

The last French and Indian war was virtually ended at the 
surrender of Montreal, September 8, 1760, and the victorious 
troops returned and scattered to their hillside farms, to pursue 
the paths of peace and discuss the exciting incidents of the 
late conflict. 

All fear of an Indian outbreak being now over, the rush from 
the lower settlements to the upper waters of the Merrimack 
and Connecticut was immediate and note-worth\-. 

The first duty of the pioneer was to provide shelter for 
himself, his wife, and children. The first houses in a town 
were built of logs, the floors of wliich were of hewn plank, four 
or more inches in thickness. As the land was cleared these 
log-houses gave place to framed buikhngs. The most durable 
timber was chosen, and the neighboring Indians frequently 
assisted in the raising. 

The tall jiines and oaks were incumbrances to the land, and 
the first efforts were directed to destroying them. The blows 
of the axe resounded through the woods ; the tree which had 
withstood the gales of a century fell quickly to the ground ; the 
limbs were cut off, and the trunk cut in convenient lengths for 
handling, when great piles were formed and the torch applied. 

After a rain had neutralized the ashes, the grain was sown 
and harrowed in ; and the harvest gathered frequently paid for 
the labor of clearing the land and for the land beside. 

The roads at first were rough and bad, mere foot-ways or 
bridle-paths. Horses were trained to carry double, and the 
pillion, a seat behind the saddle for women, was in general use 
until the Revolution. The surveyor, with chain and compass, 
laid out the road and spotted the trees ; the axe-men followed 
after and cleared a way one or two rods wide, bridging the 
brooks and streams with logs, and building causeways over 
wet places of the same material. 



1765] ROVAL PROVINCE. 255 

These roads were improved slowly, but in course of time 
would allow the passage of oxen and heavy loads ; and later 
they permitted the transit of the chaise and wagon, which came 
into use soon after the Revolution. 

The clothing was almost wholly homespun ; sheep were kept 
for their wool, and flax was raised on every farm. The wool 
was carded and spun by the women of the family, and the loom 
was in every well-organized household. Rev. Jacob Emery of 
Pembroke once received a summons to attend the Provincial 
Congress the next day, in the distant town of Exeter. He 
lacked a pair of pantaloons befitting his dignity, and was in a 
quandary. His good wife, so says tradition, was equal to the 
emergency. A sheep was captured and shorn ; its wool-carded^ 
spun and woven ; the necessary garment designed and made 
from the raw material, and presented to the worthy and 
patriotic parson, in season for him to set out for the meeting 
before the d«wn of day. 

The food of the settlers was plain. Very little tea was used, 
and coffee rarely ever. Game, or fish, with vegetables, was 
eaten for dinner ; or bean, corn, or pea porridge. Bread, milk, 
and boiled Indian pudding were staple articles of diet morning- 
and evening. 

The whole settlement were neighbors, and shared in each 
other's griefs and joys. Ready assistance was rendered to the 
sick and unfortunate, and interchange of labor was frequent. 

Patriarchal simplicity, respect, and submission prevailed in 
their families ; and especial deference was paid to the Sabbath. 
It was a day devoted to the spiritual improvement of the old 
and young alike. Aside from the Bible, books were very scarce 
and highly prized, — a minister's library consisting of a few 
choice, well-worn volumes, — and newspapers were almost 
unknown. 

The first iron crane was used in Rumford in 1758. Until 
then the people in this vicinity used what were known as lug- 
poles, which were sometimes burned off, letting the fat into the 
fire. 

1 Gilmantown was huge. Eighteen miles was the length from 

• Rev. J. E. Fullerton. 



256 HISTnK^■ OF NEW IIAMI'SIIIKE. ['"65 

Noithfield, Canterbury, and Loudon to the Lake \V'innipi- 
seogee at the Weirs. In some places it was ten miles wide. 
It contained 83,500 acres. The old town included the present 
towns of Belmont, Gilmantown, Gilford, and the portion of 
Laconia on the east side of the Winnipiseogee river. 

The township was granted in 1727 to twenty-four persons by 
the name of Oilman, together with 153 others. Many of the 
shares were the gift of the government for service in the wars. 

The character of the first proprietors and settlers will be the 
acorn determining the character of the full-grown tree. A 
greater part of the early inhabitants came from Exeter. As 
Exeter was settled from Massachusetts, and was for some time 
under Massachusetts, the early settlers were imbued with the 
ideas and habits of the State. 

It is worthy of special notice that at least seventeen of the 
founders were college gradiiates ; twelve of them ministers of 
the gospel. Others were men of note and influence in their 
old homes. 

Though all the proprietors did not become settlers, their 
enlarged ideas in regard to the founding of schools and the 
early building of churches attracted the best class of citizens, 
and have given Gilmanton a proud record in the State. 

The great attractions of the region to-day were the great 
hindrances to its early settlement. 

The beautiful lake on its northern boundary was a favorite 
resort of the red men, as it is of his white brother. The clear 
waters abounded with food for his scouting parties. The chain 
of lakes and rivers served as the thoroughfare for the Canada 
Indians, as they made their dreaded incursions upon the white 
settlers. 

Old Belknap was a point of observation which the savage 
climbed, not to revel in the wonderful view of lake dotted with 
green islands, of mountain, and of valley, but to see where the 
curling smoke of some settler revealed the hope of a scalp. 

It is not surprising that so exposed a spot was not settled till 
1 761, when the Indian wars were over. 

We little realize the hardships and toils of the early settlers. 



1765] KOVAL PROVINCE. 257 

Imagine all the iron work tor the- first saw-mill brought on 
horseback. Or think of the 26th of December, 1761, when 
Benjamin Mudgett and wife arrived in town. Think of it, oh 
ye who boast of an hour's walk as a great achievement. The 
last twelve miles, so the storif goes, they came on foot and on 
snowshoes. It is not strange that, a mile from her journey's 
end, the wife threw herself upon the snow, saying, " I may as 
well die here as anywhere ; if I attempt to go farther it will kill 
me, and if I stop here I shall but die." She reached her home, 
and lived seventy-three years after. 

Lower Gilmanton was the first region settled. Here lived 
the old lawyers, Stephen Moody, Esq., John Ham, Benjamin 
Emerson, and the old physicians. Dr. Silver, Dr. B. Kelley, and 
Dr. N. C. Tebbetts. 

East Gilmanton was of importance. Here was the first Con- 
gregational church, and when Gilmanton became a shire town 
of Strafford county, the court was held in the meeting-house. 

Iron Works, or Averytown, grew up from the operations in 
iron ore commenced in 1778. Theore was taken from Suncook 
or Lougee's Pond, in twenty feet of water. The working being 
unprofitable was discontinued. Here Senator James Bell prac- 
tised law, and kept the post-ofifice. 

Gilmanton Corner has been the social and literary centre of 
the town. Gilmanton Academy was erected in 1796. In 1799 
the county court began to be held in the village. Here Judge 
Ira A. Eastman commenced his practice. The Theological 
Seminary was opened in 1836. 

Factory Village, now Belmont Village, received its name 
from the brick factory erected in 1834. The town of Belmont 
was left by the separation of the lower part of Gilmanton from 
it in 1859. 

Meredith Bridge Village, Lake Village, and Gilford Village 
were set off, in 18 12, with the town of Gilford. 

The first settler in Meredith Bridge Village was Samuel 
Jewett, who came in 1777. He served at Bunker Hill. When 
he enlisted he was too short ; but the enlisting officer run his 
hand through the soldier's hair, and lifted it till it touched the 



258 HISTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. L ' 7^5 

pole under which the soldiers stood, telling him that what he 
lacked in inches he made up in grit. Daniel Avery, who came 
in 1779, by his energy may be called the father of the village on 
the Gilmanton side. 

Lake Village, for a time, boasted her iron works, the ore for 
which came from Gunstock mountain. On Gunstock brook, at 
the foot of the mountain, grew the rural village now called 
Gilford Village. 

Gilmanton boasts her literary ventures. In 1800 appeared 
the Gilmanton Gazette and Farmer s Weekly Magazine. The 
Rnral Musenm appeared the same year. Both soon disappeared. 

For four years from its first number, May, 1835, the Saboath- 
School Advocate was issued. The Parents Magazine was born 
in Gilmanton, September, 1840, but was early carried to Con- 
cord. In 1842 and 1843 the Biblical Journal \\?is born and 
died. The New Hampshire Repository was the last venture. 

Gilmanton Academy was chartered June 20, 1794. Peter 
L. Folsom, A. B., was the first preceptor, holding the position 
six years. The tuition was $1.00 a term. 

The Academy was, for a while, one of the two principal in- 
stitutions in the State, and numbers among its graduates many 
leading citizens. It was a part of the original design to have 
the Academy furnish a theological training for ministers. A 
department called Gilmanton Theological Seminary was formed 
in 1836, "to aid in providing an adequate supply of able, hum- 
ble, zealous and laborious ministers of the gospel for the 
churches of the State and country, especially the feeble and 
destitute." 

Gilmanton soil and climate have been especially favorable to 
the growth of churches. There have been three Congregational 
churches. The first, for years the town church, was incorpo- 
rated in 18 1 7 as the First Congregational Society. Rev. Luke 
A. Spofford succeeded Rev. Mr. Smith in 18 19, and was 
succeeded in 1825 by Rev. Daniel Lancaster, who became 
pastor of the second church in 1835. 

The Centre (Congregational) Church, on the Academy grounds, 
was organized in 1826. Rev. Herman Rood became pastor the 



1765] ROYAL PROVINCE. 259 

same year. Enjoying the audience from the Academy, and the 
patronage of the Seminary, this church has been the leading 
Congregational church in town. After Mr. Rood's pastorate, 
it was ministered to by Rev. Daniel Lancaster half the time, 
till he became its pastor in 1835. Mr. Lancaster conferred a 
great benefit upon the town by compiling a laborious and accu- 
rate history, which must serve as the foundation of all future 
histories of the town. 

The Iron Works Congregational Church was organized in 
1829. The first pastor, Rev. Charles G. Safford, came in 183 1, 
and remained till 1836. Rev. S. S. N. Greeley was pastor from 
1839 till 1842. 

The First Baptist Church was organized Nov. 16, 1773. The 
original male members were Orlando Wood, Thomas Edgerly, 
Thomas Mudgett, John Fo.x, Dudley Young, Samuel Weeks. 

^ The original charter of Marlow, signed " Ben. Went- 
worth," and bearing date October, 1761, shows that the town 
grant was divided into seventy equal shares, containing by 
admeasurement twenty-three thousand and forty acres, six 
miles square. " As soon as there shall be fifty families resi- 
dent," reads the charter, "and settled thereon, said town shall 
have the liberty uf holdin^i; two fairs annually." The grantees 
are si.\t)-nine in number, and William Noyes's name heads 
the list. 

Good authority gives the names of the first settlers as 
Joseph Tubbs, Samuel and John Gustm, N., Royce, N. Miller, 
and Natiian Huntley, and the same authority states that the 
first town meeting was held in March, 1776; but the records of 
a town meeting held in March, 1766, arc now in existence, and 
the town has the notices of such meetings from that time 
forward. The authentic copy reads as follows : 

'■ The Inhabitants of this town met according to the warning 
in the Charter, and being legally warned to meet at the 
dwelling-house of Sam'l Gustin, Joseph Tubbs was chosen 
Moderator for said Meeting, and Sam'l Gustin Clerk for said 
town ; and the meeting was adjourned to the third Tuesday of 

» G. B. Griffith. 



26o HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['765 

May next at the Dvvelling-House of Joseph Tubbs of Marlow at 
one of the clock in the afternoon on said day. 

'• May ye i6th, 1766, then met according to adjournment and 
chose Joseph Tubbs the first Selectman ; Sam'l Gustin the 
second Selectman, and Martin Lord the third Selectman. 

" Sam'l Gustin, Clerk." 

These were probably the first selectmen chosen. In 1767 
Nathan Huntley, Samuel Gustin, and Nehemiah Royce were 
chosen selectmen. 

In 1773 is the first copy of a warrant for a town meeting. 
It was directed to the constable. 

In 1778 the first minister was settled. Rev. Caleb Blood, 
Congregationalist. He was dismissed the next year, and Rev. 
Eleazer Beckwith, Baptist, succeeded, and preached till his 
death in 1809. 

The Proprietors' committee in 1767 were Nathan Hunlley 
and Samuel Gustin. In 1783 John Lewis was chosen collector 
of the Runibe tax, and in the same year it was voted to exempt 
the widows from taxation for twelve months. 

It is evident that but few of the charter members remained 
in town for a long period : if they did, they left no descendants. 
Nathan Huntley's name does not appear on that document, yet 
he was one of the first settlers. 

The earliest buildings were put up near Baker's Corner, by 
John Gustin. Nathan Huntley settled near Marlow Hill, and 
Joseph Tubbs in the south part of the town. The first 
meeting-house was built in 1798, on Marlow Hill. It had big> 
square, two-story galleries all around, and contained the " box 
pews." It was taken down in 1845, 'lid removed to the south, 
now the main, village, as a sort of a union church ; it is now 
called the Christian Church. There is no preaching in it at 
present, and the basement is used as the town hall. Origin- 
ally this edifice stood near Baker's -Corner; it was not 
clap-boarded or plastered, and was furnished with the 
primitive wooden benches. The Methodist church, also, 
originally stood on Marlow Hill. Before its erection, there 
were quite a number of Universalists in town, and, not agree-- 



1765] KOVAL PROViNCE. 261 

ing in regard to a minister, a comniittee was chosen^ one from 
the Baptists, one from the Congregationalists, and one from the 
Universalists — to procure a pastor ; and in order to have one 
that would unite them, they employed the Rev. Peter Jacobs, a 
Methodist, and this was the first introduction of Methodism in 
Marlow, which is at this time the popular church of the place. 

Oral tradition says that a Mr. Marshall was the first man to 
preach a Methodist sermon in town, but nothing is remembered 
of him except the fact that he preached two or three times. 

Mr. Jacobs was succeeded by Rev. Paul Dustin, a local 
preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he organized a 
Methodist society. Among its first members were Franci.s 
Brown, Amos Gale, Jr., and wife, Cyrus Comstock and wife, Mrs. 
Griffin, and Samuel Rice. Subsequently Mr. Dustin preached 
for the Congregationalists at Alstead, where he died, February 
10, 181 1, at the early age of thirty-si.\, and was buried in the 
cemetery at Alstead Centre. 

Rev. Dexter Bates was probably his successor, as he was 
known to be the pastor in 1812-13. He is sjioken of as "a 
strong man, full of zeal and energy." 

In 181 5 Marlow was embraced in Grantham Circuit, New 
England Conference, Vermont district, with Eleazer Weils 
presiding elder, and Warner Bannister preacher ; the latter did 
not preach in Marlow oftener than once in four weeks. The 
entire circuit, comprising probably from six to ten towns, re- 
ported a membership of two hundred and fifty-five whites and 
one colored. 

Cali.sta M. Huntley {Marie Calisio Pirctoli) was born in Marlow. April 11, 
:84i, and with her parents moved to Boston in 1845, and t'rom thence to 
Lynn in 1S51. At a very early age she manifested great musical talent, and 
seemed to feel the strongest desire to cultivate her gift. The sooner to 
accomplish her darling wish, she purchased a sewing machine, and after 
working upon it till its price was paid, she, at the tender age of twelve, began 
to save her wages till she was enabled to purchase a piano. Then h.'i mus- 
ical education commenced in earnest. Before she had taken any lessons, 
Calista had mastered many of the problems of this beautiful science. After 
receiving instruction a while from a competent teacher, she herself i^ave 
lessons, remaining a pupil still. Her talent not only secured scholars, but 



262 IIISTOKV OI'" Xmv IIAMI'SHIKE. ['7<''5 

she ere long was ofTered the leailinc; pUice in churches and at festivals; so she 
was able to continue her favorite study. In April, iS66, she went to Italv. 
and pursued her chosen vocation, taking lessons till she had perfected a 
thorough course of study, under the tuition of the best masters. In the 
meantime she gave concerts and other entertainments to pay her expenses, 
under the stage name of Marie Calisto. In 1869 she married Geromano 
Piccioli. Since then she has visited and sung in all the principal cities of 
England, Ireland, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and, in fact, over the 
whole civilized world, and has won a lasting and well-deserved fame. She 
speaks four different languages fluently, and though she of necessity has 
quite a foreign air, still she is very easy in her manners, broad in her 
religious views, and in all respects is a lady of line appearance, to whom the 
humblest may easily find access at her elegant home. Her residence is in 
Italv, but she is now temporarily stopping in Lynn, Mass. Marlow hasgood 
reason to be proud of this distinguished artist. 

Here, too, was the native place of Rosinee Richardson, familiarly known 
as •• Fat Rosinee," who in her d.\v was the wonder of the world. .She trav- 
elled with Barnum for several years, and died not long since in Florida. 

Nahum Stone, son of I^hineas. \\h~, in olden times had a small tannery at 
the head of Stone Pond, was a native of Marlow. He at one time owned and 
edited what is now known as the CAes/iire lieftiblicaii, at Keene. 

Among the early settlers and substantial citizens passed away was Mr. Far- 
ley-, who came from Billerica, Mass., and who, at one time, owned the princi- 
pal part of the " Plains," selling out his mill rights to Mr. Russel Huntley. 

Wells Way, commonly called the " Old Squire," was a very popular and 
prominent man ; almost all arbitration was left out to him. He was a town 
clerk for many years and held various other offices. Silas Mack and Samuel 
Royce were both town clerks and selectmen for many years.' 

Old manuscript letters tell us that in 1788 there were forty- 
two votes cast in Marlow. John Langdon had thirty-six; 
John Sullivan, si.x. In 1800 it was voted not to ta.\ a widow's 
cow. At the annual town-meeting, the same year, William 
Lewis was chosen constable and collector ; he was to receive 
three dollars and eighty cents for his labor in the latter ofifice. 

Baker's Corner was in olden times the on!)- business resort. 
Here was a flourishing store, a potash manufactory, and a hotel. 
The public-house first opened had Samuel Richardson for pro- 
prietor. All these buildings subsequently passed into the hands 
of William Baker. The first store ever kept in town was opened 
by Mr. Lamphier in the house now owned by Curtis Winham, 
on the Hill. Soon after, Francis D. Ellis opened a store and 
hotel, and a hostelry was also started by Kli.sha Huntley, Esq. 



1765 J KOYAL PKOVINCE. 263 

111 1761 charters were granted to Canaan, Enfield, Lebanon, 
Hanover, Lyme, Orford, Bath, Lyman, Holderness, Mario w, 
Goffstown, Lempster, Grantham, Newport and Plainfield. 

The first permanent settlement in Canaan was made in the 
winter of 1766 or 1767, by John Scofield, who conveyed what 
effects he possessed the distance of fourteen miles over a crust 
of snow upon a hand-sled. Among others of the first settlers 
were George Harris, Thomas Miner, Joshua Harris, Samuel 
Jones, and Samuel Meachani. The first church was formed in 
1780. Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D. D., a Baptist minister, was 
ordained in 1783. Rev. Joseph Wheat was settled in 18 13. A 
Congregational society was incorporated in 1820 and Rev. 
Charles Calkins was settled over it.' 

The first settlers of Enfield were Nathaniel Bicknell, Jonathan 
Paddleford, and Elisha Bingham. A Congregational church 
was organized in December, 1799, over which Rev. Edward 
Evans was settled. Jesse Johnson, one of the early settlers, 
was a justice of the peace and a member of the legislature. His 
son of the same name was a leading citizen of the town. A 
society of Shakers was organized in the town in 1792, under the 
administration of Elder Job Bishop.^ 

The first settlement was made in Lyme, in 1764, by Walter 
Fairfield, John and William Sloan, and others from Connecticut. 
A Congregational church was organized in 1772 and Rev. Wil- 
liam Conant was settled the next year.^ 

The first settler in Orford was a Mr. Cross, who came with 
his family from Lebanon, in 1765. He was followed the same 
year by General Israel Morey, John Mann, Esq., and a Mr. Cas- 
well, with their families from Connecticut. A church was or- 
ganized in 1770 and Rev. Oliver Noble was settled as minister. 
He was followed in 1787 by Rev. John Sawyer; in 1801 by 
Rev. Sylvester Dana ; in 1823 by Rev. James D. Farnsworth. 
Rev. Mr. Dana was settled over the West church for over ten 
years. 

The settlement of Bath was commenced in 1765 by John 
Harriman, from Haverhill, Mass. He was soon followed by 



264 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ ■ 76S 

Moses Pike and the family of Mr. Sawyer. A Presbyterian 
church was organized in 1778 and dissolved in 1791, when a 
Congregational church was formed. Rev. David Sutherland 
was its first settled minister. 

Among the first settlers of Lebanon were William Downer, 
William Dana, Levi Hyde, Charles Hill, Silas Waterman, and 
Nathaniel Porter from Connecticut, wh* made the first settle- 
ment north of Charlestown. They were a " hardy, brave people ; 
tenacious of their principles ; many of them were men of strong 
minds, good habits, correct principles, and good, common edu- 
cation." A Congregational church was organized in 1771, and 
Rev. Isaiah Potter was settled as minister. A Baptist church 
was formed in 1782, over which Rev. Jedidiah Hibbard was 
settled. A Universalist society was organized in 1813.^ 

The first settlement in Hanover was made in 1765 by Colonel 
Edmund Freeman, from Connecticut. The ne.\t year he was 
joined by Benjamin Davis, Benjamin Rice, Gideon Smith, and 
Asa Parker, all from the same colony. In 1770, Dartmouth 
College was established there by Rev. Dr. Wheelock.^ 

Goffstown was granted by the Masonian proprietors in 1748, 
and incorporated thirteen years later. 

The first settlement of Newport was made in 1763, by Jesse 
Wilcox, Ebenezer Merritt, Jesse Kelley, and Samuel Hurd, 
from Connecticut. 

Plainfield was settled in 1764, by L. Nash and J. Russell, 
from Connecticut. A Congregational church was formed in 
1765 and Rev. Abraham Carpenter was settled as minister. 
The town is the seat of the Kirhble Union Academy at Meriden, 
incorporated June 16, 1813, and endcwed by Hon. Daniel Kim- 
ball. 

Hawke, or Danville, Amherst, Peterborough, and Boscawen 
.vere incorporated in 1761. 

The first settlement was made in that j^art of Kingston now 
Danville, between 1735 and 1739, by Jonathan Sanborn and 
Jacob Hook. Rev. John Page was settled as minister in 1763- 
He died in 1782. 



1765] KOVAF. PROVINCE. 265 

The first settlement was matle in Peterborough, in 1739, In' 
William Robbe, Alexander Scott, Hugh Gregg, William Scott, 
and Samuel Stinson, some of whom were accompanied by their 
families. The settlement was abandoned in 1744, and the region- 
was not occupied again until 1748. On their return they were 
joined by many from Londonderry and Lunenburg, so that in ten 
years there were forty-five families in the township, who were 
mostly Presbyterians. Rev. John Morrison was settled as min- 
ister in 1766. 

'In 1762 happily the l-5ow controversy, which had been so long 
waged, was drawing to a close. In the courts of New Hamp- 
shire every case brought to trial, touching the title to their lands,, 
had been decided against the proprietors of Rumford ; but the 
Rev. Mr. Walker and Benjamin Rolfe, Esq. — the men to whom 
the proprietors had entrusted their cause — confident of its 
justice, were neither bafifled nor discouraged. With a firmness 
of purpose worthy all praise, and sustained by the unanimous 
will of the people, the Rev. Mr. Walker persevered in his 
agency. In the fall of 1762 he visited England for the third 
time, to attend the trial of the cause, which was still pending. 
He had formed valuable acquaintances among ministers of re- 
ligion, members of Parliament, and members of his Majesty's 
Council. Sir William Murray, his learned counsellor and advo- 
cate in the first trial, was now Lord Mansfield, chief justice of 
the King's Bench. After long and anxious suspense the trial 
came on, and Mr. Walker announced the result in a letter dated 
in December as favorable to the Rumford and Suncook settlers. 
The decision of the King in council states : — 

That some vears since, upon a dispute about the boundary line between 
the provinces of the Massachusetts Bav and New Hampshire, his Majesty 
was pleased to issue a commission to mark out the dividing line between the 
said Province of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, but with an express 
declaration that private property should not be affected tliereby. And upon 
hearing the report of the commissioners appointed to settle the said boundary, 
his Majesty was pleased, by his order in council, made in 1740, to adjudge 
and order that the northern boundary of the said Province of the Massachu- 
setts Bay are and be a similar curve line, pursuing the course of Merrimack 



266 iii-^ioKV OF m:\v hamp.shike. [1765 

river at three miles distance on the north side thereof, beginning at the Al- 
lantir ocean, and ending at a point due north of a place called Pautucket Falls, 
-and a straight line drawn from thence due west, cross the said river, till it 
meets with His Majesty's other governments; by which determination two 
third parts at least of the said river Merrimack, with the lands and settlements 
thereon, and among the rest the said towns of Pennicook, or Rumford, and 
Suncook. would lav upon the said river considerably above the said Pautucket 
falls, were excluded out of the said Province of Massachusetts Bay, in which 
they had before been thought and reputed to be, and thrown into the said 
other Province of New Hampshire. That notwithstanding his Majesty had 
been pleased, at the time of issuing the said commission, to fix the said boun- 
dary, to declare the same was not to affect private property : yet certain per- 
sons in New Hampshire, desirous to make the labors of others an advantage 
lo themselves, and to possess themselves of the towns of Pennicook, otherwise 
Rumford, and Suncook, as now improved by the industry of tlie appellants 
and the said first settlers thereof, w^honi they seek to despoil of the benefit of 
all their labors. 

His Majesty this day took the said report into consideration, and was 
pleased, with the advice of his privy council, to approve thereof, and to order, 
as it is hereby ordered, that the said judgment of the inferior court of common 
pleas of the Province of New Hampshire, of the 2d of September, 1760, and 
aiso the judgment of the superior court of judicature, of the 2d Tuesday in 
November, afiirming the same, be both of them reversed, and that the appel- 
lants be restored to what they may have lost by means of the said judgment, 
whereof the Governor or Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Province of 
New Hampshire, for the time being, and all others whom it may concern, are 
to take notice and govern themselves accordingly. 

But notwithstanding his Majesty's decision the controversy 
had become so complicated, and involved so much personal in- 
terest and feeling, that many years elapsed before its final set- 
tlement. The difficulty with the government of the Province 
in respect to taxes was terminated by a charter of incorporation, 
but conflicting personal interests had to be compromised. The 
prudence, decision, ami readiness for reconciliation on just prin- 
ciples, which distinguished the proprietors in all their subse- 
quent proceedings, appear from the records. The controversy was 
finally terminated in 1772. The common lands which had been 
reserved were divided and laid off to the respective proprietors 
and grantees. 

At length Mr. Walker's able management of the Bow case having 
won a favorable decision, Rumford was to remain intact, and 



l/t'S] KOVAI, PROVINCE. 267 

SO was Suncook. Suncook, however, had given over the strug- 
gio and was no more ; in its place was Pembroke, a creation 'of 
the General Assembly of New Hampshire. Who would blame 
their worthy divine, the Rev. Aaron Whittemore, if he upbraided 
the people for their want of faith in the paternal guardianship 
of the Old Hay Colony, in which he had filial confidence .' 
Piobably he had no soft answers lo turn away their wrath, but 
rather enkimlled it ; for the\- met one November day and voted 
their old minister out of his parish. Here their anger eniied, for 
the ne.xt year they petitioned for, and obtained, the charter for a 
separate parish for the Presbvterians, allowing the minority to 
retain the services of their faithful minister ; and not forcing 
them, in retaliation for past acts, to support the Rev. Daniel 
JNIitchel. 

' In 1762 the population of that part of the "Chesnut Coun- 
try" called Charmingfare numbered so many families who were 
obliged to make their way over bridle-paths and through woods 
ten or twelve miles to meeting, that the freeholders of Chester 
voted to set off a new parish north and west of their present 
limits and north of Long Meadows, now Auburn. The new 
township was supposed to measure five and one half miles one 
wa\-, by four miles the other, being nearly a parallelogram in 
shape, and was divided into one hundred and thirt}' proprietary 
lots. 

The earliest date at which anyone moved within the limits of 
the new parish cannot now be determined. The late Colonel 
R. E. Patten claimed to have heard it said by one of the fathers 
who knew, that David McClure built his log cabin on the 
north-east slope of Patten's hill, in 1743. Chase, in his history 
of Chester, remarks that McClure did not take his farm at 
Chester Centre before 1744. On page two hundred and sixty, 
however, of that history, the invoice table of 1741 gives David 
McClure as assessed for a house and a horse. 

William Turner, generally considered the first settler, and 
who appears to have been in Chester in 1741, or before, built a 
house in 1748, on a swell of land near the present Candia 

■ F. p. Eaton. 



268 iiisroKV OF Ni;\v nAMr>iiiKE. L'765 

village. The next year came Benjamin Smith from Exeter, 
and began a clearing about one half mile south-east. Enoch 
Colby came from Hampton about the same time, and settled a 
mile or more south-west from Turner. They appear to have 
been neighborly, for Mr. Turner married Colby's sister, and 
their daughter Sarah was the first child born in town. In 
1753, Nathaniel Burpee came from Rowley, Massachusetts, and 
built one quarter of a mile north ; he united in his person two 
\ery useful functions — he was tailor and deacon. After this 
the influx of population, if not rapid, was steady. The earliest 
recorded census in 1767 gives the number as three hundred and 
sixty-three. Eight years later it had more than doubled. 

Under the consent signified by the vote of Chester, thirty- 
eight freeholders petitioned for a charter, and in 1763 it was 
duly granted by the Governor, Council and Assembly, whereby 
" the inhabitants and their estates are made a parish by the 
name of Candia." 

In Moore and Farmer's New Hampshire Gazetteer, it is said 
that this name was given by Governor Benning Wentworth, 
who had been a prisoner on the island of Crete, now Candia, in 
the Mediterranean. The statement was adopted in Eaton's His- 
tory, and also by the late Rev. Dr. Bouton, in some notes on 
the names of towns in his State Papers. I have not seen any 
allusion to this imprisonment in Belknap's or in Brewster's 
Rambles. Some circumstances in the life of Wentworth, how- 
ever, give it an air of probability. 

It is to the distinction of the people of that rough but thrifty 
little town, that the world knows but one other place of like 
name. There are Chesters and Raymonds and Deerfields in 
abundance, but, especially to those to the manor born, but one 
Candia in fact or in sentiment. 

It would be interesting to know where the first town meeting 
was held, but the record gives us no hint, though John Carr's 
tavern was surely built (and is now the oldest inhabited house 
in town), and Deacon Palmer's "Lintel" received the worship- 
])ing congregation on Sunday. 

It was on March 13, 1764, that this jirecursor of a long and 



1765] KCIVAI. I'KON'IXCE. 269 

lively series of March meetings was calleil by Samuel Emerson, 
Esq., duly authorized for that purpose. Doctor Samuel Moore, 
as the record styles him, who came from Hampstead two years 
before, was chosen Moderator and Parish Clerk, which latter 
office he held twenty-nine years. He was one of those univer- 
sal factotums useful and indispensable in the building up of new 
towns, not a regular physician but able to pull teeth, perform 
simple surgical operations, and give common sense if not legal 
advice in matters of dispute. His wife was reputed equally effi- 
cient and capable in her own particular sphere. 

The chief reason for the new charter was the difficulty of at- 
tending public worship, and so the first vote to raise money was 
of one hundred and fifty pounds old tenor, to hire preaching, 
and one hundred pounds for schooling. A small sum, the old 
tenor currency having depreciated to about one twentieth of its 
nominal amount, but it was enough for immediate use. 

" Shirbane " Rowe was chosen inspector of deer, and John 
Carr tythingman. Three hawards or hay wardens were also 
chosen, whose duty it was to take up and impound any cattle 
found trespassing on inclosures or cornfields. 

As there were few fences, cattle were of course allowed to 
roam at large, as well as sheep. To identify the sheep a system 
of ear marks was used, and they are recorded in quaint lan- 
guage in the " town book," as for instance : " ' Shirbane ' Rowe's 
mark for creatures a happenny under side left ear." " Silas 
Cammet mark for his creatures a slit in ye Rite ear." " Nicho- 
las French's mark for his creatures a cropp of the left ear swal- 
low tail ye right." Inspectors of deer were appointed to see 
that the game laws were enforced, which forbade the killing of 
■deer at certain seasons. The tythingmen served as local police, 
not only maintaining the order and attention in meeting, but 
they arrested unlucky travellers making more than a Sabbath 
day's journey, and saw that the guests in Colonel John Carr's 
Inn did not carry their carousing to excess. The remaining 
officers chosen did not differ in title or function from those 
chosen at the present day, and therefore call for no mention. 

About this time the following terse \ote appears upon the 



270 HISTORY OF NEW HA.Ml'SHIRE. ['jSj 

record, without gloss or comment : " Concerning Hoggs, we 
will stand by the old laws in that case provided." 

In all those days they were looking out for a minister,and various sums were 
voted for preaching. Rev. Tristram Gilman very acceptahly served them for 
forty-one Snbbaths, Rev. Mr. Webster fifteen, and Rev. Jonathan Searle ten. 
Besides, Rev. Messrs Hall, Joseph Currier and Thomas Lancaster preached 
each a shorter time. Calls were extended to Messrs Gilman and Searle, but 
not accepted. Neither were the schools neglected, eighteen pounds being 
appropriated to each quarter or district, and a writing and reading school 
established the whole of the year. In January, 1766, the amount voted for 
preaching and schools was more than doubled, and four hundred pounds old 
tenor expended on the parsonage lot. September Sth, at a special meeting of 
the parish, they voted sixty pounds lawful money in labor, and five pounds 
in cash, toward building a meeting-house, preaching having been maintained 
meanwhile in Deacon Palmer's " Lintel," the house thus designated being sit- 
uated a few rods east of the present parsonage, on the spot where the late N. 
B. Hall resided. There was a triangular pediment over the front door from 
which the name given to the 'vhole structure doubtless came. Whether this 
is anything more than a local term my observation or reading does not inform 
me. 

It was voted, that the meeting-house frame should be begun on the :;2nd of 
the month, and "John Clay, Walter Robie, Esq., Benjamin Cass, Moses Ba- 
ker, Jonathan Bean, Nathaniel Emerson and Abraham Fitts," were chosen 
a committee to take the work in charge. 

The sixty pounds could be paid in labor at two shillings six pence per dav, 
or in lumber at current rates, and the frame was to be completed by the last 
of October. If any member of the parish failed to pay in lumber or labor the 
constable could collect it in money. 

October 20th the selectmen were authorized to assess a sufficient sum to 
finish the frame, and codfish, potatoes and butter were provided for the rais- 
ing supper. The house was forty-five feet long by forty wide and was laid 
out into pew lots which were sold to raise money to complete the building. 
Eighty-two years after, when this meeting-house was burned, a neighboring- 
blacksmith, with whimsical thrift, sowed turnip seed in the ashes, to save, as 
he said, the interest on his money. Nearly all the materials required could 
be furnished home made, except the glass, and in order to provide for what 
the record calls the "glassing," liberty was given to cut red oak timber on the 
school and parsonage lots, to be made into staves three feet eight inches long. 
Eighteen shillings per M was allowed for the staves until enough had been 
cut to amount to sixty pounds lawful money. It took several years to finish 
the glazing, and in 1771 a committee was chosen to look after the glass rate, 
and see that no more red oak staves were cut than was necessary. Possibly 
the incumbent. Rev. Mr. Jewett, made some objections, as the income of the 
lot was part of his salary. The committee offered, if allowed to cut thestaves, 
to build a fence around the lot. 



1765] KOVAL PROVINCE. 271 

In addition to the ordinary trials of a frontier life, tlie war of 
the Revolution approached. In 1770 they had called and 
settled the Rev. David Jewett, engaging to pay him eventually 
sixty-five pounds a year, with the income of the parsonage, to 
build him a house and barn, and dig a well, thus increasing the 
burdens of the day. In 1796 a steeple and porch were added 
to the meeting-house, and in 1802 a bell and weather-cock. 
Major Samuel Moore seems to have been the contractor for 
finishing the steeple, as it is said that he employed a Newbury- 
port copper-smith to make the weather-cock, and soon after, 
failing in business, did not pay him. The town had paid Mr. 
Moore all that was his due, but on a representation that the 
copper-smith was a poor man, voted to allow his claim. One of 
the townsmen, antedating Wall Street by a century, hurried down 
to Newbur)-, bought the claim at half price, paying in sugar 
which he had got in trade, probably for barrels, and came back 
to the selectmen to realize : by some means the transaction 
became known to the town fathers, and they sent down the full 
amount to the artisan. Let us be thankful that thus this bird was 
an honest rooster, and served the parish well for thirty-six years, 
when, at the burning of the house, he took his final flight, and 
was resolved into his native copper, ceasing forever to breast 
the storm, or guide the winds. The oaken frame of the house 
was very massive, but, heavy as it was, the famous gale of Sep- 
tember, 1815, started the roof, which was seen to lift as if 
meditating a flight, but finally thought better of it, and settled 
back to its old position. 

The house stood on the hill, or central plateau, fronting the 
south, and not far from the geographical centre of the parisli ; it 
was at least beautiful for situation. 

^In June, 1735, the Massachusetts General Court granted to 
Samuel King and others, in consideration " of their sufferings " 
in the expedition to Canada in the year 1690, the township of 
Lyndeborough, and about one third of Wilton on the north 
side, under the name of Salem Canada. In this part of Wilton, 
in June, 1739, was the first settlement made. The first settlers 

• J. B. Conner. 



2/2 HISTOKV Ol' NEW HAM I'SHIKE. [ ' 7^5 

were Ephraim ami Jacob ruliuini, and John Dale, who removed 
to this place from Danvers, Mass. In 1749 the Masonian pro- 
prietors made a grant of the rest of the town under certain 
conditions, to forty-six persons. The grantees had it laid out, 
and annexed to a part of Salem Canada, and called No. 2. It 
was incorporated June 25, 1762, under the name of Wilton, a 
name probably derived from an ancient borough in Wiltshire, 
England ; and the first town meeting was held July 27, 1762, 
"twenty-three years after the first settlement. Before the 
Revolution, a range of lots, half a mile wide, was set off to Tem- 
ple, and thus the town finally assumed its present size and 
shape. Improvements of all kinds were slow and gradual. 
The first settlers went to Dunstable to mill ; and when Shep- 
pard's mill in Milford, 'seven miles distant, was built, it was so 
great a convenience that it was hardly thought less of than a 
modern railroad. The first grist mill in Wilton was built bv 
Deacon Samuel Greeley of Nottingham West. The first saw 
mill was near Philip Putnam's, on the North Stream (Stony 
Brook). The second grist and saw mill was Hutchinson's, at 
the east village. These were all the grist mills erected before 
the Revolution. The roads were at first little more than foot- 
paths marked by spotted trees. For a long time there were 
apprehensions of danger from the Indians ; Wilton seems never 
to have been a fixed residence for them, but merely a hunting- 
ground. The\% however, lived along the Merrimack, and in 
time of hostility, or when hostility was feared, the first settlers 
went into garrison. This continued about ten years. One 
garrison was in Milford, the other in Lyndeborough, near 
where Ephraim Putnam settled. The ecclesiastical history of 
our New England towns has always been of great interest and 
importance, and it must be gratifying to all whose native 
place is Wilton, that the means for religious improvement have 
ever been carefully provided by its inhabitants. 

When the town was first laid out, one share of two hundred 
acres was set apart for the first minister, and another for the 
support of the ministry. There had been occasional preaching 
here most of the time ; and from the records it appears that at 



1765] ROVAL PKOVrNCE. 273 

least two persons had been invited to settle ; but the first 
minister actually installed was Mr. Jonathan Livermorc, who 
was ordained December 14, 1763; on the same day a church 
was formed, consisting of eight male members. Mr. Livermore 
was minister thirteen years and resigned. It may be men- 
tioned as an interesting fact, that there were only two families 
in town during his ministry whose children were not baptized. 
The first meeting-house was built in 1752. It was used twenty- 
one years and then taken down. 

The second one was built during the ministry of Mr. Livermore. They 
commenced raising it in September, 1773. Sucli things were conducted difler- 
ently then from what they are now, and were considered a work of two days. 
People came from distant towns to see the spectacle, and great preparations 
were made. A committee of the town appointed the raisers, and ample pro- 
visions were made to entertain stiangers. The morning dawned amid all 
the glories of that beautiful season, and people from all parts came in great 
numbers. Some came on foot, and some practised the method, unknown to 
modern days, of riding and tying; others were on horseback with their 
wives or sisters behind on a pillion. It was an occasion of universal expecta- 
tion. The timbers were all prepared, the workmen ready, and the master- 
workman, full of the dignity of his office, issuing his orders to his aids. All 
went on prosperously. The good cheer, the excitement of the work, the crowd 
of spectators, men looking on, women telling the news, boys plaving their 
various games, all made it a scene of general rejoicing. The sides of the 
house were already up, and also a part of the roof at the east end of the build- 
ing. One of the raisers from Lyndeborough, Captain Bradford, had brought 
over his wife, whom he left on account of illness at the house of Mr. Baldwin, 
while he went on to take part in the work. Having to pass along the centre 
of the building, he observed that the middle beam, extending across the centre 
of the church, was not properly supported. A post was under the centre, but 
it was worm-eaten and was already beginning to yield and give way under the 
pressure. In raising the middle part of the roof, the weight of the workmen 
would come on this beam, which was evidentlv not strong enough to bear up 
the timbersand men. He immediately ascended to the roof and informed the 
master-workman, who, being made over-confident by the success thus far, re- 
plied that if he was afraid he could go home, that they wanted no cowards 
there. Indignant at the reply, Captain Bradford went down and started off for 
his wife, with the intention of returning home. Before reaching Mr. Baldwin's 
he looked back, and saw the men swarming upon the unsupported beam. 
They were raising up with much exertion and shouts of direction and encour- 
agement the beams and rafters, when suddenly he saw the frame already 
erected tremble, the men shrink back aghast; the building seemed to rock for 
a moment to and fro, then all, timbers and tools and men, rushed down to- 
gether in one mingled mass. The crash was so loud as to be heard nearly a 



274 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 765 

mile. For a moment all was silent, then the air was filled with groans, 
and outcries, and shrieks of terror. Of the fifty-three men who fell with the 
frame, three were instantly killed, two died shortly afterward, and mo.^-t of 
the others were more or less mangled and wounded. To understand the im- 
pression that the event made at the time, it must be remembered that the 
whole population of the town was less than five hundred. At a fast which 
was kept, Mr. Livermore preached from the text, which then must have been 
peculiarly impressive : " Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain 
that build it." After many mishaps the church was finally completed near 
the end of the year 1774, and dedicated the next January, when Mr. Livermore 
preached a sermon from tlie text : " But who am I and what is my people, 
that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort." In July. 1S04, 
the house was struck with lightning, and the middle part at the end rent from 
top to bottom. 

In former days, before people had become so delicate and 
luxurious as now, there was no fire in the church in winter. 
The older men chose to have it understood that their zeal kept 
them warm ; while the young men, fearing perhaps lest their 
reputation for hardihood might suffer in the eyes of the gentler 
sex, would not confess that they were to be made to feel cold 
by any weather. But it has been intimated that there were 
lads who, when the thermometer was at zero, by the middle of 
the afternoon sermon, were ready, after some misgivings, to 
give up their reputation for zeal and pride of sex, for the 
chance of holding their fingers for a few moments over their 
mother's foot-stove. 

Many of the town papers relating to the affairs of Wilton 
during the war of the Revolution have been lost. An examin- 
ation of those remaining prove, that nearly every able-bodied 
man belonging in the town was out in the war, and either did 
service personally, or hired another to fill his place for a longer 
or shorter period. Wilton was represented in the battle of 
Bunker Hill, and a large number of her men were in the army 
at Cambridge. It is known that at least eight, and probably 
more, were in the battle of Bennington, one of whom, 
Ebenezer Perry, was killed. 

New Ipswich, Wilton, and Dresham were incorporated in 
1762. The former town was granted by Massachusetts and 
settled, before 1749, by Reuben Kidder, Archibald White, 



17^5] KOV.M. I'KtJVI.NCt;. 275 

Joseph and Ebenezer liallard, Joseph Stevens, and others. It 
was regranted in 1750 by the Masonian proprietors. The fir.st 
minister was Rev. Stephen Farrar, who died in 1809. He was 
succeeded, in 1812, by Rev. Richard Hale. 

' Lisbon was first granted in the year 1763, under the name 
of Concord, which name it retained for the succeeding five years. 
The grantees not complying with the conditions of the charter, 
the same became forfeited, as was supposed, and in 1768 it was 
regranted to an entirely new company of proprietors, under the 
name of Gunthwaite. Through the influence of Captain Leon- 
ard Whiting, who was instrumental in procuring the second 
charter, and Major John Young, of Haverhill, Mass., some set- 
tlements were made. Matters, however, progressed slowly, and 
for several years there were but few additions. The war of 
the Revolution came to a close, and a new impetus was given 
to emigration. 

In the year 1785 there were comfortably ensconced in log 
cabins forty families, besides a respectable contingent of bachel- 
ors. After the first influx subsequent to the war, emigration in 
some degree abated ; yet each year witnessed a sure and steady 
increase, and evidently the morning of prosperity began to 
dawn upon the new colony. The genuine prosperity which had 
rewarded the efforts of the Gunthwaite proprietors was coveted 
by the original grantees. They came forward, laid claim to the 
township, and, as is surmised, made some kind of a compromise 
with certain influential citizens. The controversy thus raised 
was followed by litigation, which culminated in the restoration 
of the Concord charter. Hence, as by a single stroke of the 
pen, the Gunthwaite titles were extinguished, and the poor set- 
tier, who with his wife and children during these years had 
shared all the privations of pioneer life and had begun to enjoy 
some of the comforts so dearly earned, was at once deprived of 
his home, with nothing left but his pittance of personal property. 
A part of the settlers abandoned their claims and went to 
Canada and places further north ; others endeavored to sell 
their improvements, — but no one was willing to purchase, so 

1 Sanuicl Emcrv. 



2/6 IIISTUKV OF NEW HAMPSHIKE. [1765 

prevalent was a feeling of distrust and uncertainty. Every one 
knew that the first charter had actually been forfeited, and that 
points had been carried by the dint of bulldozing and fraud ; 
and yet there was no redress, inasmuch as the courts had decided 
against them. By far the greater number of citizens remained 
upon their farms and awaited the issue ; and when the claims 
of the Concord proprietors were fully established and acknowl- 
edged, finding they must yield to the inevitable, they pur- 
chased their farms over again. At length the excitement and 
disturbance subsided, and by an Act of the Legislature the name 
of Concord was resumed, and retained until 1824, when it was 
changed to Lisbon. 

The first settlers of tlie town were Samuel Martin, Ebenezer Richardson, 
William Belknap, and Samuel Sherman; then followed the Youngs, the most 
influential family through a considerable period ; afterwards came these, being 
the surnames, — Dexter, Darley, Judd, Parker, Aldrich, Jesseman, Bishop, 
Harris. Howland. Northey, Hildreth, Jewett, Colby, Q^iimby, Streeter. 
Spooner, Oakes, Priest, Noyes, Jameson, Taylor, Haines, Applebee, Morse. 
Bailev. Ash, Whitcomb. Smith, Page, Wells, Knapp, Kinneston, Burt, Ka\ . 
Emery, Cushman, Moris, Kelsea, Gurnsey, Mclntire, Cooley, Whiting, Bar- 
rett, Clark, Walker, Palmer, Robins, Cole, Eastman, Whipple, Cobleigh, 
Kimball, Savage, Gould, and Ela. — besides individuals and other families. 
perhaps equally earl3', but not so numerous. 

^ Gilsum originally included the larger part of both .Sullivan 
and Surry, and was first granted in 1752, under the name of 
Boyle. It was regranted in 1763, and received its present 
unique name from a combination of the names of two of its lead- 
ing proprietors, Colonel Samuel Gilbert and his son-in-law. Rev. 
Clement Sumner. Its earliest settlers were from Connecticut, 
largely from Hebron, Bolton, and Glastonbury. The promi- 
nent family names of the first few years were Kilburn, Dewey, 
Wilcox, Adams, Pease, Hurd, Bliss, and Bill, of which only 
Hurd and 15111 now remain. 

Gilsum had no Tories in the Revolution, and has always fur- 
nished her full quota of men when called to defend the liberties 
of the people or the nation's honor. Twenty names are credited 
to Gilsum on the Revolutionary rolls of the State, while the 

* Syivanus Hayward. 



ijC'Sl Kov.\r. PROVINCE. 277 

whole number of men between sixteen and fifty, in 1777, was 
only thirty-nine. Seven Gilsiim men served in the war of 18 12, 
and seven more volunteered, but were not called for. In the 
war of the Rebellion, Gilsum furnished seventy-one men, 
twenty-nine of whom were lier own citizens. 

A Congregational church was organized here in 1772, but no 
minister was secured till 1794, when Rev. Elisha Fish was set- 
tled by the tozvn, and remained till his death in 1807. Opposi- 
tion to the old system of supporting preaching by public taxa- 
tion was very early developed, and after Mr. Fish's death no 
minister was settled by the town. The only church in Gilsum 
at the present time is the original one above mentioned, now 
passing its one hundred and ninth year, with about forty resi- 
dent members. A Methodist church, of considerable numbers 
and activity, flourished here for some years, but is now dis- 
banded. A Christian church was established here about sixty 
years since, and numbered many converts, now mostly dispersed 
to other churches. A feeble Baptist church was removed here 
from Sullivan, but survived only a few years. A branch of the 
Mormon church was organized in town in 1S41, numbering 
nearly fifty resident members. Some perished on their way to 
Utah, and some are now residents of that Territory. 

A grist mill and saw-mill was built in 1776. In 1813 Luther 
Whitney built a clothing mill on the brook near his father's 
house. Seven years later he removed to the village. In 1832 
the manufacture of cloth was first undertaken by David Brig- 
ham and H. G. Howe. Since then woollen manufactures in va- 
rious forms have been the most important industry of the place. 
Though Gilsum has sent out almost no men of national reputa- 
tion, yet many useful men, and men of considerable local dis- 
tinction, are identified with Gilsum history. 

^ Lancaster was incorporated on the 5th of July, 1763, and 
owes its early settlement, like many other events in the world, 
to passion. David Page, Esq., grand uncle of Governor Page, 
dissatisfied with the division of the rights in Haverhill, and 
having been advised of the extent and fertility of our 

■ Joliu W. Weeks. 



278 IllSTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ ' /^S 

"meadows" by some of the survivors of that party of Rogers' 
Rangers, who, after the destruction of the village of St. Fran- 
cois, reached and passed down the waters of the Connecticut, 
being a man of great resolution, resolved to penetrate at once 
to the Upper Coos. With this view, in the autumn of 1763, he 
sent his son, David Page, Jr., and Emmons Stockwell, to build 
a camp, and winter in Lancaster. In the year 1764, David 
Page, Esq. ( called by the settlers Governor Page), with his large 
family, "moved" to I^ancaster, followed by several young men, 
eager to improve, or rather make, their fortune. The best 
tracts of land were immediately occupied, and were so pro- 
ductive that for many years manure was considered unnecessary, 
and was actually thrown over banks and into hollows, where it 
would be most out of the way. At this period there was no 
settlement between Haverhill and Lancaster, and but few north 
of Number Four, now Charlestown. There being no roads, the 
settlers suffered inconceivable hardships in transporting their 
necessaries, few as they were, being obliged to navigate their 
log canoes up and down the "fifteen mile falls," now known to 
be twenty miles in length, with a descent of more than three 
hundred feet ; and in winter to pass the same dangerous rapids 
in sleighs and with ox-teams, frequently falling through the ice, 
and sometimes never rising above it. . High water to descend, 
and low water to ascend, were thought the most favorable 
times. 

The first town meeting was held on the i ith of March, 1769. 
The first mill was operated by horse power, but so illy con- 
structed, that it was little better than the large mortar and 
pestle attached to a pole, which was used by many. A " water 
mill" was erected, and soon after burnt; another and another 
met the same fate. These disasters, with the Revolutionary war, 
reduced the settlers to extreme distress. Newcomb Blodgett 
and some others being captured by the Indians and carried to 
Canada, led to the determination of abandoning the country ; 
and for this purpose the settlers collected at the house of 
Emmons Stockwell. whose resolution never forsook him, even 
for a moment. " Mv family," said he, "and I shan't go." This 





WARREN, N H. 



IjC'Sl ROVAI. l'KO\IN-CE. 279 

remark changed the oi)inion of several families, who remained, 
yet with but very few accessions to the end of the great and 
glorious struggle. 

On the 7th of January, 1776, Joseph Whipple was chosen to 
represent the towns of Lancaster, Northumberland, Dartmouth 
( now Jefferson ), Apthorp (merged in other towns ) and Strat- 
ford. V^oted to give their representatives "instructions from 
time to time." At a subsequent meeting, Joseph Whipple was 
again elected to the same office, — a vote of thanks passed for 
his past services, and a committee of five was chosen to give 
him instructions for the future. Thus was the right of instruc- 
tion established to govern the first representative. Near and 
soon after the close of the war, several families, who had lost 
much of tlieir property during the conflict, migrated to Lan- 
caster. Major Jonas Wilder, with a large and highly respectable 
family, was of the number. He built a "grist and sawmill." 
In May, 1787, Captain John Weeks, for a like reason, came to this 
town. At the March meeting in 1789, twenty votes were cast 
for State officers ; and even this small number were divided by 
important political considerations; twelve friends to popular 
rights however prevailed. 

In the year 1763 charters were granted with a lavish hand. 
Poplin, or Fremont, Alstead, Candia, New Boston, Warren, 
Haverhill, Woodstock, Lancaster, Gilsum, Plymouth, Cornish, 
and Croydon were incorporated. 

Claremont, Weare, Benton, Lincoln, Franconia, Piermont, 
Lyndeborough, Raymond, Newington and Unity were incorjior- 
ated in 1764. 

Claremont was chartered by (ieorge HI., October 26, 1764. 
Josiah Willard, Samuel Ashley and si.xty-eight others were the 
grantees. It recei\'ed its name from the country-seat of Lord 
Clive, an English general. The first settlement was made in 
1762 by Moses Spafford and David Lynde. In 1763 and 1766 
several other inhabitants arrived. In 1767 a considerable num- 
ber of proprietors and others from the towns of Farmington, 
Hebron and Colchester, in Connecticut, made settlements in 
different parts of the town. The first native of Claremont was 



280 HISTORY OF NKW HA.Ml'.->in KE. ['7*^5 

l<;iijah, son ot Moses Spafford, who was born in 1763. Aniong^ 
the early inhabitants to whose enterprise the town was essen- 
tially indebted for its prosperity, may be mentioned Samuel 
Cole, Esq., who graduated at Yale College in 1731, and was 
for many years very useful as an instructor of youth. He died 
at an advanced age. Dr. William Sumner, a native of Boston, 
who came to this place in 1768 from Hebron, Connecticut, was 
a resident several years in Claremont, where he died in March> 
1778. Colonel Benjamin Sumner, who was many years a civil 
magistrate, died in May, 181 5, aged seventy-eight. Colonel Jo- 
seph Waite, who was engaged in the French and Indian war, was 
captain of one of Rogers' companies of Rangers, and com- 
manded a regiment in the Revolutionary war, died in October, 
1776. Captain Joseph Taylor, who was engaged in the Cape 
Breton, the French, and the Revolutionary wars, who was, with 
one Farwell, taken prisoner by the Indians in the summer of 
1755, carried to Canad.a and soUl to the French, returned to 
Claremont, and died in March, 1813, at the age of eighty-four. 
Hon. Samuel Ashle\' moved to this town in 1782. He was in 
the wars of 1745 and 1755. He sustained several civil offices, 
and was judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He died i'n 
February, 1 792. 

At the outbreak of the Revolution the town was tlivided 
between the Whigs and Tories, the Loyalists being in a min- 
ority. No overt acts on their part having been undertaken, 
they lived at peace with their neighbors throughout the war, 
although under the watch of a self-appointed Committee of 
Safety from among the citizens of Claremont and adjoining 
towns. 

The early inhabitants were about equally divided in their 
attachment to Episcopacy and Congregational principles. The 
churches of these denominations may be considered as coeval. 
At a town meeting held at the house of Thomas Jones, May 9, 
1 77 1, it was decided to settle in town a minister of the Gospel. 
A committee of three was chosen and instructed to apply to 
Mr. Elijah Parsons to come and preach as a candidate; "but if 
he fails, to apply to Dr. Wheelock (president of Dartmouth 



1765] KOVAI. PKO\'lNCi:. 281 

College) for advice who to apply to in his room." The first 
minister settled by the Congregational society was Rev. George 
Wheaton, who was ordained Feb. 19, 1772. 

The first minister of the Episcopal society was Rev. Ranna 
Cossit, who sailed for England for holy orders in December, 
1772. He was ordained by the Bishop of London, but was 
succeeded in 1775 by Rev. Daniel Barber, who continued in the 
ministry there until 1818. 

The first services were held in the " South School-house," the 
meeting-house of that day, which stood on Jarvis hill, in the 
west part of the town. It was a frame building covered with 
rough boards, furnished with rude benches for seats, and having 
•only the ground for a floor. The first meeting-house was built 
in 1 79 1, on the road from Claremont village to the Junction, 
near the Draper place. It was subsequently enlarged and was 
•occupied by the society until 1836, soon after which it was 
moved to the village ; it is now a part of the town-house. 

Raymond, Conway, Concord, Centre Harbor, Dunbarton, 
Hopkinton, Stark, Lee, and Deerfield were incorporated in 
1765. 

Acworth, Bridgewater, Burton, Eaton, Albany, and Farns- 
worth were incorporated in i 766. 

■■ The town of Wentworth was chartered by Gov. Benning 
Went worth in 1766. There were originally sixty grantees or 
proprietors, mostly residing in the towns of Kingston, East 
Kingston, Hawke (now Danville), and South Hampton, which 
•originally included what is now Seabrook, and Salisbury, Mass. 
The charter is in the usual form of the charters of those days. 
" In the name of George the Third, by the Grace of God, of 
Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith," 
etc. A tract of land six miles square was granted, containing 
23,040 acres, "out of which an allowance is to be made for high- 
ways and unimprovable lands, by rocks, ponds, mountains, and 
rivers, 1,040 acres." The land was to be divided into sixty-six 
equal shares, and was bounded on the north by Warren, east by 
Rumney, south by Dorchester, and west by Orford — and to be 

I Hon. J. E. Sargent. 



282 HISTORY OK NKW II A M J'SIl IKE. ['7^5 

known as the town of Wentworth ; and its inhabitants were de- 
clared to be enfranchised with and entitled to all the privi- 
leges and immunities which other towns exercise and enjoy. 
When the town should consist of fifty families resident therein, 
they were to have the liberty of holding two fains therein annu- 
ally, and that a market may be opened and kept open one or 
more days in each week. Provision is made for the calling of 
the first meeting of the proprietors, and the annual meetings 
thereafter. " To have and to hold " said granted premises upon 
the following conditions : Every grantee shall plant and culti- 
vate five acres of land within five years, for every fifty acres 
contained in his or their shares or proportions, in said township, 
on penalty of forfeiture, etc. All white pine trees in said town- 
ship, " fit for masting our Royal Navy," to be preserved and 
not to be cut without permission ; upon the division of the lands, 
a tract of land as near the centre of the town as may be, to be 
marked off as town lots of the contents of one acre, one of 
which lots shall be assigned to each proprietor. The rent to 
be paid for the same is one ear of English corn per annum ; 
and in 1777, on the 2Sth day of December, one shilling procla- 
mation money for every hundred acres of land owned by him, 
was to be paid by every proprietor and owner to the King, and 
in the same ratio for a larger or smaller tract, which was to be 
in full of all future rents and services. 

Dated November i, 1766. 

There was a reservation of five hundred acres in the north- 
west corner of the plan of tJie town, marked " B. W. " and 
known as the Governor's reservation. 

This charter was granted to John Paige, Esq., and fiftv-nine 
others. There were five sons of said John Paige, Esq., who 
were, with him, grantees and proprietors of the town, namely, 
Samuel, Moses, John, Ephraim, and Enoch. They all lived in 
Salisbury, Mass., and so far as we know only two of them ever 
came to Wentworth. The two younger sons, Ephraim and 
Enoch, afterwards settled in Wentworth and died there. Proba- 
bly but few of those original proprietors ever saw any part of 
the township thus granted to them. We cannot learn that any 



1765] K()\.\I, ]'KOVINCE. 283 

Others of the whole sixty original proprietors ever settled ia 
Wentworth, except Ephraim and Enoch Paige. 

John Paige, Esq., the first grantee, was the son of one Onesi- 
phorus Paige of Salisbury, Mass., and was born February 21, 
1696. He married Mary Winsley, of said Salisbury, April 16, 
1 720. They had five sons and several daughters, none of whom, 
so far as we know, ever came to Wentworth, except the two 
youngest sons as before nientionetl. But they were not among 
the first settlers of the town. 

During the year 1770 the first settlement was made in town by 
David Maxfield, Abel Davis, and Ephraim Lund, and in the 
order above named, though all in the same season. David Max- 
well settled on the White farm, as it was formerly called, on the 
intervale since occupied by Richard Pillsbury and Colonel Joseph 
Savage. He lived in town about two years. Abel Davis cleared 
a small piece of land and built a log house on the Jonathan 
Eames place, so-called, and since occupied by Daniel Eames,. 
and now by Amos Rollins. This house was west of the pres- 
ent buildings toward the river. He remained in town but a short 
time, removing to Vermont. His daughter, Mary Davis, after- 
ward came into town and livetl with Enoch Paige's family, and 
became the second wife of Ebenezer Gove, one of the early 
settlers, about 1780. Ephraim Lund erected a log house on the 
east side of the river, near where the red school-house now stands 
in District No. i. He resided in town for five or six years, and 
then removed to Warren, where he afterward lived and died at 
an advanced age. 

Ephraim Paige, son of John Paige, Esq., and Mary Paige, of 
Salisbury, Mass., was born at said Salisbury, March 16, 1731. 
He married Hannah Currier there, and had ten children born 
in Salisbury, and then in the summer of 1773 he moved his 
family to Wentworth, where he had three more children, mak- 
ing thirteen in all — ten daughters and three sons. John Paige, 
the eldest son, was born at Salisbury in 1769. Samuel, the sec- 
ond son, was born in Wentworth in October, 1773, and is said 
to have been the first male child born in the town of Went- 
worth. His third son. Currier Paige, was born in Wentworth, 



2S4 IIISTOKV Ol" N'l.W ilAMr'SIIIKK. [l/SS 

March 29, 1781, and was the youngest of the family. Epliraim 
first settled in a log house on the lower end of the intervale, 
suice owned by James K. Paige, and afterward occupied as a 
town farm, near the brook. The road that then passed up the 
west side of the river went east of the village, round the hill 
and back of it, to the intervale above. 

Salisbury was incorporated in 1767. 

1 In the political canvass in our State which closed with the 
March election, 1858, it was publicly stated by some of the 
speakers that Judge Webster, the father of Hon. Daniel Web- 
ster, could neither read nor write. There is sufficient evidence 
in Franklin and Salisbury to satisfy the most sceptical that he 
could not only read and write, spell and cipher, but he knew 
how to lend the means to found a State. Daniel Webster, in 
his autobiography, gives a brief but too modest outline of the 
life of his father. His acts and works gave him deserved in- 
fluence and fame in the region of his home. 

Ebenezer Webster was born in Kingston, in 1739. He 
resided many years with Major Ebenezer Stevens, an influential 
citizen of that town, and one of the .first proprietors of Salisbury. 
Salisbury was granted in 1749, and first named Stevenstown, in 
honor of Major Stevens. It was incorporated as Salisbury, 1767. 
Judge Webster settled in Stevenstown as early as 1761.- Pre- 
vious to this time he had served as a soldier in the French war, 
and once afterwards. He was married to Mehitable Smith, his 
first wife, in 1761. His first two children died while young. 
His third child was Susannah, who married John Colby, and 
recently died in P'ranklin. He had also, by his first wife, two 
sons — David, v/ho died some years since at Stanstead ; and 
Joseph, who died in Salisbury. His first wife died in 1774. 
Judge Webster again married — Abigail Eastman, in 1774. By 
his last wife he had five children, viz.: Mehitable, Abigail (who 
married Wm. Hadduck); Ezekiel, born March 11, 1780; Dan- 
iel, born January 18, 1782, and Sarah, born in May, 1784, and, 

' Hon. George W. Nesmith. 

- When Judge Webster first settled in Stevenstown, he was called Ebenezer Webster, Jr. In 
1694, Kingston was granted to James Prescott and Ebenezer Webster and others, of Hampton. 
He descended from this ancestry. 



1765] ROVAI, PRO\'INCE. 285 

with his last wife and many of his children, now lies buried in 
the graveyard originally taken from the Elms farm. For the 
first seven years of his life, after he settled on the farm now 
occupied by John Taylor, in Franklin, he lived in a log cabin, 
located in the orchard west of the highway, and near Punch 
Brook. Then he was able to erect a house of one story, of 
about the same figure and size as that now occupied by William 
Cross, near said premises. It was in this house that Daniel 
Webster was born. In 1784 Judge Webster removed to the 
tavern house, near his intervale farm, and occupied that until 
1800, when he exchanged his tavern house with William Had- 
duck for that where he died. 

In 1 761 Captain John Webster, Eliphalet Gale, and Judge 
Webster erected the first saw-mill in Stevenstown, on Punch 
Brook, on his homestead near his cabin. 

In June, 1764, Matthew Pettengill, Stephen Call, and Eben- 
ezer Webster were the sole highway surveyors of Stevenstown. 
In 1765 the proprietors voted to give Ebenezer Webster and 
Benjamin Sanborn two hundred acres of common land, in con- 
sideration that they furnish a privilege for a grist mill, erect a 
mill and keep it in repair for fifteen years, for the purpose of 
grinding the town's corn. 

In 1768 Judge Webster was first chosen moderator of a town- 
meeting in Salisbury, and he was elected forty-three times after- 
wards, at different town meetings in Salisbury, serving in March, 
1803, for the last time. 

In 1769 he was first elected selectman, and held that office 
for the years 1771, '7-. '74. '76, '80, '85, '86 and 1788 ; resigned 
it, however, in September, 1776, and performed a six months' 
service in the army. 

In 1771, 1772, and 1773, he was elected and served in the 
ofi[ice of town clerk. In 1778 and '80, he was elected represen- 
tative of the classed towns of Salisbury and Boscawen ; also, 
for Salisbury, 1790 and '91. He was elected senator for the 
years 1785, '86, '88, and '90; Hillsborough county electing two 
senators at this time, and Matthew Thornton and Robert Wal- 
lace of Henniker served as colleagues, each for two of said 



286 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1/65 

years. He was in the senate in 1786, at Exeter, when the 
insurgents surrounded the house. His proclamation then was, 
"I command you to disperse." 

In March, 1778, the town chose Captain Ebenezer Webster 
and Captain Matthew Pettengill as delegates to a convention to be 
held at Concord, Wednesday, June 10, "for the sole purpose of 
forming a permanent plan of government for the future well 
being of the good people of this State." 

In 1788, January 16, Colonel Webster was elected delegate to 
the convention at Exeter, for the purpose of considering the 
proposed United States Constitution. A committee was also 
chosen by the town to examine said constitution and advise 
with said delegate. This committee was composed of Joseph 
Bean, Esq., Jonathan Fifield, Esq., Jonathan Cram, Capt. 
Wilder, Dea. John Collins, Edward Eastman, John C. Gale, 
Capt. Robert Smith, Leonard Judkins, Dea. Jacob True, Lieut. 
Bean, Lieut. Severance, and John Smith. At the first meeting 
of the convention in February, Colonel Wfebster opposed the 
constitution under instructions from his town. 

A majority of the convention was found to be opposed to the 
adoption of the constitution. The convention adjourned to 
Concord, to meet in the succeeding month of June. In the mean- 
time Colonel Webster conferred with his constituents, advised 
with the committee on the subject, asked the privilege of sup- 
porting the constitution, and he was instructed to vote as he 
might think proper. His speech, made on this occasion, has 
been printed. It did great credit to the head and heart of the 
author : 

"Mr. President: I have listened to the arguments for and 
against the constitution. I am convinced such a government as 
that constitution will establish, if adopted, — a government acting 
directly on the people of the States, — is necessary for the com- 
mon defence and the general welfare. It is the only govern- 
ment which will enable us to pay off the national debt, — the 
debt which we owe for the Revolution, and which we are bound 
in honor fully and fairly to discharge. Beside, I have followed 
the lead of Washington through seven years of war, and I have 



1767] KOYAL TKOVINCE. 287 

never been misled. His name is subscribed to this constitution, 
lie will not mislead us now. I shall vote for its adoption." 

The constitution was finally adopted in the convention by a 
vote of 57 yeas, 47 nays. 

Colonel Webster gave his support to the constitution. He 
was one of the electors for President when Washington was 
first chosen to that office. 

In the spring of 1791, Colonel Webster was appointed judge 
for the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Hillsborough. 
This office he held at the time of his death in April, 1806. 
He was one of the magistrates, or justice of the peace, for Hills- 
borough county for more than thirty-five years prior to his 
decease. 

Atkinson, Chatham, Campton, and Rumney were incorpo- 
rated in 1767; Seabrook, Meredith, Lisbon, Henniker, Sand- 
wich, Rindge, and Mason were incorporated in 1768. 

Brookline, Surry, and Temple were incorporated in 1769; 
Sanbornton and Wolfeborough were incorporated in 1770. 

Milan was granted in December, 1771, as Paulsborough, in 
honor of Paul Wentworth. 

Berlin was granted in December, 1771, as Maynesborough, in 
honor of Sir William Mayne of Barbadoes. 

The town of Hillsborough was incorporated in November, 
1772, there being at that time twenty-two men who were free- 
holders. 

^ In 1 741, contemporary with the running of the boundary 
line which separated the province of New Hampshire from 
that of Massachusetts, a company was formed in Boston, who 
travelled thence through the forests to Hillsborough, and 
pitched their tents in its wilderness. This territory had been 
formerly granted to Colonel John Hill. The little settlement was 
called Hillborough in honor of Colonel Hill; the leading men were 
Samuel Gibson, James Lyon, Robert McClure, and James Mc- 
CoUey, — the two latter being natives of the north of Ireland. 
There was in the little colony a commingling of Puritanism and 
Presbyterianism, concentrating in a strong religious feeling. 

1 Fmnk H. Tierce. 



288 



Hl:?TOKV OF NEW IlAMrSIIIKE. 



[1772 



In proof of this sentiment, among the earliest labors of the 
settlers was the erection of a meeting house and a parsonage. 
Land was assigned for a grave-yard, in which several members 
of the colony were buried. There remains to-day no vestige of 
this solitary cemetery. The wife of McColley was the only 
female in the settlement, and remained exiled from her sister- 
hood for more than a year. Her husband built the first 
dwelling — a log hut — -near the Bridge, where the first child 
born in the settlement saw the light. 




Lieut. John McColley subsequently entered the Royal service 
and fought against the French and Indians. Afterwards he 
was in the war of the Revolution, in the militia corps which 
New Hampshire sent against Gen. Burgoyne. Hewasaman 
of exemplary character, and died in 1834, at the age of 92. 



1772] KOVAL PKOVINXE. J89 

Some five months after the birtli nf l.icut. McColley's child a 
daughter was born to Samuel Gibson, who was named 
I^llizabeth. 

In 1744 the Cape Breton war broke out between the English 
and French and Northwestern Indians. This war carried 
death and destruction wherever it was prosecuted. The Indian 
raids upon many of the early settlements, and the slaughter and 
destruction of the dwellers therein, are matters of tragic his- 
tory, in which Hillborough shared. 

In 1746 the menaces of the Indians were so threatening that 
the feeble colony of seven or eight families in Hillsborough, on 
hasty consultation, agreed to abandon their homes and seek 
safety in Massachusetts. They hid away their agricultural im- 
plements, loaded their cattle with what household property and 
provisions they could carry, buried the remainder of their port- 
able property, and set forth. It appears that the party made 
its way to Litchfield and there settled down. 

The population of Hillsborough slowly increased until 1775, 
when the settlement contained forty families. At this time 
the war with England broke out, and elicited a common resis- 
tance against the wrongs sought to be inflicted by the govern- 
ment of the mother country on her North American colonists. 
No locality manifested more patriotic ardor or devotion to the 
interests of liberty than the people of this town. They armed 
and equipped themselves for local protection and national 
resistance. No patriotic sacrifice within their power was 
withheld — they offered their all that the rights of the people 
should be asserted. The town assessed itself in nine thousand 
seven hundred pounds to purchase provisions for the American 
Army, and more than thirty stalwart men from the forty fami- 
lies gave their personal service in the war that ensued, and 
fought in Stark's regiment at Bunker Hill, where their brave 
commander. Captain Isaac Baldwin, fell mortally wounded. 

In royal Rockingham, in southeastern New Hampshire, lies 
the territory incorporated under the name of Northwood, a day's 
journey from the fair old town of Portsmouth. Settlement was 
begun on Northwood soil by emigrants from North Hamilton. 



290 lus'i'oia' oi'' Ni.w HAMPsuiKK. [1773 

Their names wtre John and Increase Batchelder, and Moses 
Godfrey. This was in the year 1763. Then Northwood was a 
dependency of Nottingham. After them the Johnsons, the 
Hoyts, and the Knowltons came. These men felled the forests 
and subdued the rocky soil ; and these laid the foundation of 
the future township. 

In the year 1773, ten years later than the first settlement, it 
was erected into an independent borough, electing Samuel John- 
son, Joseph Demeritt, and Benjamin Hill as selectmen. Jona- 
than Jenness was first justice of the peace. The first postmaster 
was John Furber. 

Religiously, the early jiioneers were Baptists. In the year 
1772, a church was built, the third of that denomination in the 
State. This edifice was rebuilt in 1816. A bell was added in 
1878. Recently was witnessed the completion, free from debt, 
of a commodious parsonage. The society has had twelve pas- 
tois, — Edmund Pillsbury having been the first. 

The Congregationalists erected a meeting-house here in 1780. 
'i'his was rebuUt in 1840. A call was extended to Rev. Josiali 
Prentice of Alstead, who sustained the charge forty-three 
years. This society has had six pastors. 

The rise of the Free Baptist church in Nortiiwood was due 
to the evangelical labors of Rev. D. P. Cilley, though David 
Marks had preached here a few times before him. Cilley 
labored here in 1833. Then the society was organized, which 
held its meetings at the mountain school-house. Not until six 
years later, or in 1838, was their house of worship completed. 

^General James Reed, one of the original proprietors of Mon- 
adnock Number Four, now Fitzwilliam, was a native of 
Woburn, Massachusetts, where he was born in the year 1724. 
He was a descendant, in the fifth generation, of William and 
Mabel Reed, who sailed from London in July, 1635. 

His military life commenced in 1755, when he served in the 
campaign against the French and Indians, commanding a 
company of provincial troops under Colonel Brown. In the 
same capacity he servetl with (icneral Abercrombie in 1758, at 

' .\. J. l!ldke. 



1774] KOVAl. I'KOVINCE. 29I 

Ticonderoga ; and with General Amherst in 1759. He was 
employed in various public services until the peace of 1763. 
In the year 1765 he settled in Fitzwilliam, and in 1770 he 
received the commission of lieutenant-colonel. The lapse of 
time has hidden from view the detailed account of his services 
in these campaigns ; but his early selection by his countrymen 
for the command of a regiment at the beginning of the Revo- 
lution indicates that his military career was creditable to himself 
and valuable to his country. It was in this severe school that 
he, like many of the officers of the Revolution, acquired that 
military skill which gave strength and efficiency to the Conti- 
nental army. 

On the 19th of May, 1773, Colonel Reed, with several others, 
received a grant of Fitzwilliam, or Monadnock Number Four, from 
John Wentworth, the Provincial Governor of New Hampshire. 
In 1770, he settled with his family about a mile northwesterly 
of the centre village in Fitzwilliam, where he erected a large 
and commodious house. Being the owner of a considerable 
portion of the area of the town, he was actively employed in 
promoting its settlement, and for those times was considered 
wealthy ; and the first school in Fitzwilliam was taught in his 
house by Miss Sarah Harris, at the age of seventeen. His 
name appears upon the records as the leading spirit of the town. 
He was proprietors' clerk and moderator of the town meetings 
for several years after its incorporation. 

In April, 1774, the town of Portsmouth 1 instructed their repre- 
sentatives to use their influence in the General Assembly, to 
join with the other colonies in every constitutional method to 
oppose the claim of Parliament to tax the American colonies 
without their consent, and to keep up a continual correspon- 
dence with them for that purpose ; to abolish the Court of Ap- 
peals, and also to employ their efforts that the justices of the 
courts of law should hold their offices during good behavior, 
and not at the will of the crown ; that adequate salaries should 
be granted to the justices of the superior court ; that they strenu- 
ously oppose any salaries being granted to either of the justices 

' Annals of Portsmouth. 



292 HISTORY OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['774 

of the courts of law independent of this government ; that they 
should take the opinion of the judges and some lawyersasto the 
operation of any law of consequence which they are about to 
pass ; that good roads be made into the interior part of the prov- 
ince ; that laws be passed to prohibit the importation of slaves ; 
that secure places be provided for the records of the several 
offices ; that the fees in all public offices be established by law; 
that enquiry be made concerning the application of all money 
granted for the use of the government, especially the powder 
money ; that the representatives be chosen annually, and that 
their doors should be open to all who choose to hear their de- 
bates. 

On the 25th of June twenty-seven chests of tea, subject to 
the duty, were landed and stored in the custom house before 
the inhabitants had knowledge of it. A town meeting was held 
on the 27th, which appointed a guard to keep the tea secure 
and to prevent insults being offered to any individual on account 
of it. Upon consultation with Edward Parry, Esq., the con- 
signee, it was agreed that he should re-ship the tea, and a com- 
mittee was chosen to see this agreement executed. The tea hav- 
ing been entered, the consignee paid the duty upon it openly, 
which was necessary before it could be re-shipped. The gover- 
nor used every precaution to preserve the peace of the town, 
and everything remained quiet. The tea was re-shipped and 
sent to Halifa.x. 

A committee of inspection was appointed to examine and 
find out if any tea should be imported, and upon the discovery 
of any, to give the earliest notice thereof to the town. 

Deputies were chosen at Portsmouth, July 1 5, to meet the 
deputies from the other towns in the province, to elect a dele- 
gate to the General Congress, which was to meet at Philadelphia 
September i. 

The inhabitants entered into an agreement in writing, which 
was generall}' signed, by which they pledged their faith and 
honor that they would not import, sell, purchase, or consume any 
kinds of East India teas, nor suffer the same to be used or con- 
sumed in their respective families, until the duties should be 
taken off. 



1/74] KdlAI. I'KOVINCE. 293 

In September the ship Fox, commanded by Captain Zacha- 
riah Norman, arrived at Portsmouth, having on board thirty 
chests of tea consigned to Edward Parry, which caused some 
disturbance in the town ; the populace broke the windows of tlie 
consignee, and he applied to the governor for protection. The 
governor convened the council, and required the aid of the 
magistrates and other civil officers to sup]5ress the riot, which 
was soon effected. 

The town assembled the next day, and Edward Parry, Esq., 
being present, publicly declared that he would not accept the 
consignment of said tea, nor have anything to do with it ; 
and Captain Norman promised that he would at his own expense 
re-ship said tea and send it to Halifax. A committee was ap- 
pointed to guard the tea and see it sent off, who reported that 
it was shipped on board another vessel, and that they saw the 
vessel with the tea on board outside of Fort Point. 

On the loth of October, the town "voted to give two hun- 
dred pounds for the relief of the industrious poor of the towns 
of Boston and Charlestown, under the oppression they now 
suffer from the port of Boston being blocked up by an Act of 
the British Parliment." 

A very numerous committee was chosen to keep up the good 
order and quiet in the town, and to examine into every matter 
that may appear unfriendly to the interests of the community. 

Governor Wentworth retained his popularity as extensively 
as possible for a person of his situation, which was extremely 
critical — for he was placed between two contending parties, of 
opposite interests, and it could not be expected that he would 
please both. His wishes were to preserve the union of the two 
countries. He was attached to his government, and was de- 
sirous of promoting its welfare as far as he could consistently 
with his duty to the King, which he considered paramount to 
all other obligations. A circumstance took place which lessened 
him in the estimation of the people. The troops at Boston 
were destitute of barracks, and the carpenters there refused 
assistance in building them. General Gage applied to Went- 
worth to procure workmen, and he secretly employed an agent 



-94 



IIISTOKV OI' M:\\ HAMISIIIRE. 



[1774 



to hire carpenters to construct the barracks. As soon as it was 
known, his conduct was severely censured, and the Committee 




GOVERNOR WENTWORTH HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH." 

«f Safety, of which his uncle, Hunking Wentworth, Esq., was 
chairman, declared that the person guilty of such conduct was 



'The family portraits of the Wentworths. by Copley and his master, Blackburn, and other vain, 
able historical mementos of colonial days and royal stat., are still preserved in the Mansion. In the 
house was born, July 14, iSio, Edward Henry Durell, who became a distinguished lawyer in New 
Orleans and a Judge of the United States court for the district of Louisiana — a man eiuinent fo-- 
Wis learning and ability. 



1774 1 Ki>\.\[ rKoviiNX'E. 295 

" an enemy to the community." I'"rom this time his influence 
declined, and he retained only the shadow of authority. The 
real power was transferred to the Committee of Safety, and their 
orders were implicitly obeyed. 

Hon. Hunking Wentworth, who was the uncle of the gover- 
nor, was the efficient chairman of the Portsmouth Committee of 
Safety as long as his health and age would admit. He died in 
Portsmouth, Sept. 21, 1784. 

The proceedings of the General Congress were published in 
e\ei \- part of the country, and received with approbation. They 
made a declaration of their rights, stated their grievances, and 
entered into an association suspending all commercial inter- 
course with Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies. When 
these proceedings were laid before this town, they voted unani- 
niousl)-, "That they did cordially accede to the just state of 
the rights and grievances of the British colonies, and of the 
measures adopted and recommended by the American Conti- 
nental Congress, for the restoration and establishment of the 
former, and for the redress of the latter." They voted, "That 
the association, strictly adhered to, would in their opinion prove 
the most peaceable and successful method for the removal of 
the distresses these colonies are laboring under, and the restor- 
ation of their violated rights ; therefi re they cheerfully adopted, 
and would punctually and religiously execute the same, as far 
as in them lies." A committee of twenty-five persons was 
chosen "to observe the conduct of all persons, touching the 
association, that every person within the limits of their appoint- 
ment conform to the same ; and if any should be hardy enough 
to violate it, in such case the majority of the committee shall 
forthwith cause the truth of the case to be ]5ublished in tlie 
Gazette, according to the recommendation of Congress." And 
"lest some, for sordid gain, should be tempted to violate the 
association, they recommended a non-consumption as the best 
guard against any infraction of the non-importation agreement." 
Thfey bore " testimony against every species of gambling, and 
recommended industry and frugality to the inhabitants." 

Amongst other systems of economy which were adopted, the 



2()6 



HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



["774 



regulation of funerals was one of the most important. They 
were usually attended with great expense, often beyond the 




ability of the survivors of the family to meet. All the connec- 
tions were obliged to dress in a full suit of mourning ; cnam- 



I774j KOVAL i'KOVlNCE. 297 

elled rings were distributed to the near relatives; gloves and 
rings were given to the pall-bearers and to the clergyman who 
officiated at the grave. In many instances escutcheons with 
the family armorial bearings painted on silk were laid on the 
coffin, placed over the door, and sent to the particular friends 
of the deceased. By general consent these expenses were dis- 
pensed with, and instead of them gentlemen wore black crape 
round the left arm, and ladies black ribbons, as badges of 
mourning. 

The corporation of Harvard College made choice of Rev. 
Doctor Langdon as president of that institution. After due 
consideration, and by advice of his friends, he accepted the 
appointment. His parish was strongly attached to him, and 
consented to the separation very reluctantly. The connection 
between them was dissolved October 9th, 1774. He was 
born in Boston in 1722, of respectable parents, was graduated at 
Harvard College in 1740, with a high reputation as a scholar. 
He came to Portsmouth soon after, and had the charge of the 
grammar school. 

In 174s he was appointed chaplain of Colonel Meserve's 
regiment, and was present at the capture of Louisburg. Aftei 
his return, he was invited to preach at the North parish, as 
assistant to Mr. Fitch, whom he succeeded in the ministr\- in 
the year 1747. He protracted a map of New Hamjjshire, in 
company with Colonel Blanchard, which they published in 
1 761, and inscribed it to the Honorable Charles Townseiid, Sec- 
retary at War. In return for this compliment, the Secretary 
obtained for Mr. Langdon a degree of Doctor in Divinity from 
the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. On the formation of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Massachusetts 
he became a member. Doctor Langdon's publications are 
numerous. 

He resigned his office in 1780, and the following January was 
installed over the church at Hampton Falls, where he spent 
the residue of his days in usefulness and peace, a blessing to 
the people of his charge, and happy in the enjoyment of their 
affection and respect. 



29i^ HISTORY OF NEW H A .M PSIIIKI;. ['774 

An order had been passed by the King in council, prohibit- 
ing the exportation ef gunpowder and military stores to Amer- 
ica. The Committee of Safety received a copy of it by express 
from Boston, the 13th of December. They collected a com- 
pany with great secrecy and dispatch, who went to Fort 
William and Mary at New Castle, under the direction of Major 
John Sullivan and Captain John Langdon, confiued the cap- 
tain of the fort and his five men, and brought off one hundred 
barrels of gunpowder. The next day another company brought 
off fifteen of the lightest cannon, all the small arms, and some 
warlike stores. 

On the 13th December, 1774, Paul Revere took \\\s first public 
ride. While it may not have been of so far reaching impor- 
tance as his later one, it richly deserves a place in history. It 
happened in this manner. The Boston Committee of Safety had 
just heard of the British order that no military stores should 
be exported to America. They accordingly sent Paul Revere 
on a fleet horse to Portsmouth, to apprise the similar committee 
there of the news and probably to urge them to secure the 
powder which was in Fort William and Mary in the harbor, as 
reinforcements were expected shortly from England. 

The garrison consisted of only five men, and they had under 
their charge a hundred guns and a large quantity of powder and 
balls, the possession of which was deemed important to the patriot 
cause. John Sullivan was a member of the Provincial Congress 
that year, and had just arrived in Portsmouth from Philadelphia. 
War had not been declared, but there was no telling when the 
flames of dissension would burst forth. When the conflict did 
come there would be need of arms and ammunition. When the 
British troops arrived, — and they were momentarily expected, 
— the fort would be in their hands, and it would be too late to 
capture it. Sullivan proposed the immediate capture of the 
place, and offered to lead the men to the attack. A military 
force v/as accordingly summoned as secretly as possible from 
the neighborliood. Sullivan and John Langdon took the com- 
mand, and the march was commenced toward the Plnglish fort. 
It was a liazardoiis inuicrtaking. The sycophants of Went- 



17741 KO\AI. I'ROVINCE. 2Cf) 

worth thronged the town, who would consider the capture of 
the patriots as a good passport to the governor's favor. Besides, 
there was danger from the fort. If the captain became aware 
of their design, he was sure to turn the guns upon them and 
destroy them. But no alarm was given, and in silence Sullivan 
and his little band approached the works. With a rush they 
gained the gate, captured the sentry, and before a challenge 
could be given had the captain and every man in the fort 
prisoners. The British flag was hauled down. The gunpowder, 
of which there was one hundred barrels in the fort, was immed- 
iately taken away and hid in the houses of the patriots. Sullivan 
concealed a portion of it under the pulpit of the Durham meet- 
ing-house. A large part of this plunder afterwards did good 
service at Bunker Hill. Next day fifteen of the lighter cannon 
and all of the small arms were carried away. The governor and 
his officers received no intelligence of the affair until it was too 
late to remedy it, and when the British troops arrived they found 
only a dismantled fortress. The affair, which in itself may 
appear to be of no great moment, assumes a different aspect 
when we consider the time at which it occurred. It was the 
first act of armed hostility committed against the crown of Great 
Britain by an American. 

^ Holderness was granted in 1751. One of the original 
grantees was Hon. Samuel Livermore, one of the most dis- 
tinguished men of New Hampshire in the Revolutionary 
period. All of the Livermores in this country are supposed 
to be descendants from John Livermore, who settled in Water- 
town, Massachusetts, as early as 1642. Samuel Livermore was 
one of the great-grandsons of John Livermore. He was born 
May 14, 1732, at Waltham. At the age of twenty he graduated 
at Nassau Hall, Princeton, one of the most ancient and respec- 
table collegiate institutions in the country. Selecting law for 
his profession, he became a student under Hon. Edward Trow- 
bridge, and was admitted to practice at the supreme judicial 
court of Middlesex county, in 1756. The ne.\t year he removed 
to New Hampshire, established himself at Portsmouth, where 

■ Fred Myron Colby. 



300 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1/74 

he soon became a distinguished member of the bar. He filled 
some of the most honorable and lucrative offices in the Province, 
and was for several years judge advocate of the Admiralty Court, 
and subsequently succeeded Wyseman Claggett as the king's 
iittorney-general of New Hampshire. In this position he 
became the most necessary adviser to John Wentworth in the 
troubles that were growing up between the colonists and the 
crown. 

From the first Mr. Livermore was found on the popular side, 
and doubtless it was on account of some embarrassment 
between himself and Governor Wentworth that he removed his 
home to Londonderry, then the second town of the Province in 
wealth and population. From 1768 to 1772 he represented that 
town in the General Assembly. He still continued to hold the 
office of attorney-general, thus showing that, though an op- 
ponent of the encroachments of viceregal power, his abilities 
were respected by the Wentworths. His circuit embraced not 
only all New Hampshire, but the counties of York and Cum- 
berland in Maine as well, extending as far as Portland. His 
earnings at this time could not have amounted to less than 
$5000 per annum, a large sum for the period. 

One of Livermore's ambitions was to be a great land owner. 
He was one of the original grantees of the township of Holder- 
ness, and by purchase gradually became the proprietor of nearly 
two-thirds of its territory. For Gov. Wentworth's right he paid 
$50, and for James Kelley's the sum of $88.88. In this way 
some ten or twelve thousand acres in Holderness, Campton and 
Plymouth came under liis ownership, and it was good land, too, 
— pasture, woodland and valley, whose yearly income brought 
more than one good pound into the proprietor's pocket. Incited 
perhaps by the example of Governor Wentworth, who in 1770 
had built a splendid summer residence on the shores of Lake 
Winnipiseogee in Wolfeborough, and perhaps, too, desiring to 
be at a distance from the tempest that he saw gathering over 
the government at Portsmouth, Livermore sold his farm in 
Londonderry to John Prentice, a graduate of Harvard, who had 
studied law with liim, and afterwards was attorney-general of 



1774] KOVAL I'KOVIN'CE. 3OI 

the State from 1787 to 1793, and betook himself with his family 
to liis wilderness home. This was in the year 1774. 

At that time there were but nme families in Holderness. 
William Piper had come there in 1763; the others, John Fox, 
John Sheppard, Bryant Sweeney, Samuel Eaton, Joseph Sin- 
clair, Andrew Smith, John Herron, and Nathaniel Thompson 
settled later. Several families followed the Livermores from 
Londonderry and vicinity. Among them was John Porter who 
became the first settled lawyer of Plymouth, but returned to 
Londonderry in 1806, which town he represented for eleven 
years. IVIrs. Porter was a very accomplished lady, and was Mrs. 
Livermore's most intimate friend. 

Mr. Livermore lived successively in two or three small build- 
ings before he built the large and handsome mansion in which 
he died, and which he erected during the last of the Revolution. 
During the first years of the struggle he took no prominent 
part. It was from no lukewarmness to the cause, however. 
Doubtless his high office that he had held under the crown and 
his well-known friendship to Governor Wentworth caused some 
of the patriot leaders to regard him with suspicion. These 
years he remained entirely aloof from public affairs, caring for 
his own affairs in Holderness. He had a grist mill at the 
mouth of Millbrook, and here he might have been seen any day 
in 1776 and 1777 dressed in a white suit, and tending the mill 
with his own hands. We find him soon after this a member of 
the State Assembly from Holderness. He had now a splendid 
opportunity to prove that he was no lukewarm adherent to the 
cause of the colonists. He threw the vifhole weight of his 
power and influence into the popular scale and became the con- 
trolling spirit of the assembly. Such men as Meshech Weare 
and Matthew Thornton, who knew his worth and his vast 
ability, embraced his cause. Li 1778 he was appointed attorney- 
general of the State, again superseding Wyseman Claggett, who 
had held the office for two preceding years. 

^The just claims for services of some of the hardy rangers, 
among the original proprietors of Whitefield we find recognized 

I L. W. Dodge. 



302 IIISTOKV OF NMiW liAMPSlI IKE. ['774 

by Gov. Wentwoith. There were Captain Gerrish, and Lieut. 
VVaite, and Ensign White, and the Farringtons, all of Rogers's 
company. Then there were the Cloughs, five of them, all from 
Canterbury, and Imder Stark, and there was Colonel Jonathan 
Bailey, whose possessions were also increased in this region by 
purchases with Colonel Moses Little. This latter once owned 
nearly all of what was known as Apthorp, extending for fifteen 
miles or more along the Connecticut river, and embracing the 
present towns of Littleton and Dalton. The name of the terri- 
tory was changed from its first English title of "Chiswick," so 
named from the celebrated country seat of the duke of Devonshire, 
to Apthorp, in memory of a distinguished divine who came to this 
country in 1759, as a missionary of the Society for the Propa- 
gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. After its purchase by 
Colonel Little, who was then the Surveyor of the King's 
Woods in this section, it was divided, one part taking the 
name of Littleton, from its owner, and the other Dalton, from 
an old towsman of the colonel's, Hon. Tristram Dalton, who 
was also one of the original grantees. Colonel Little was a 
native of the old town of Newbury, Massachusetts, and was 
greatly distinguished throughout the war of the Revolution. 

The town of Whitefield, until July 4, 1774, formed a part of 
the ungranted lands, and lays claim to being the last town- 
ship granted within the State under ro)al favor, and b}' its 
last royal governor, John Wentworth. At that date it only ic- 
quired an organization and a name, for its metes and bounds 
were already established by surveys of surrounding townships ; 
therefore this was literally what was left, and they called it 
Whitefield when organized, from the celebrated Methodist 
divine of that name, who a few years previously in an itinerating 
tour in southern New Hampshire and in Massachusetts stirred 
the religious thoughts of the people into intense activity, so 
that, says a writer of the day, his name was a household word. 
His last sermon was at E.xeter, where, on his journey from 
Portsmouth to Boston, he had stopped bv the importunities of 
friends to preach one of his unique discourses. It was delivered 
in the open air, for the doors of the established churches were 



1774] KOVAL I'KOVINCE. 3O5 

closed against him, aiul only (lod's great temple was open, and 
for two long hours he interested the crowd which had flocked 
to see him and to hear his wonderful doctrines. Greatly fatigued 
he continued liis joiu'ney to Newburypoit, where, by appoint- 
ment, he was to preach the next ila\-, hut on the following 
morning he was seized with a return of a long-fought asthmatic 
trouble, and died suddenl)- at the home of his friend, Rev. John 
Parsons, September 30, 1770. 

It is doubtful if any of the early proprietors of Whitefield, 
save those who joined the first surveying party under Captain 
(ierrish, and those of the scouting rangers, ever set foot 
upon their pine-land possessions. Certain it is, none ever be- 
came actual settlers. Timothy Nash may have hunted there, 
and the Rev. Jeremy Belknap, New Hampshire's early his- 
torian, who was one of the Cutler exploring party, in 1784, at 
which time the name of Washington was first applied to the 
highest peak of the mountains, doubtless surveyed with his eye 
from afar off his gubernatorial donation of the ninety-fourth 
part of the township, but aside from these no one of the 
grantees of the town ever saw their Cohos estates. So it 
remained for Major John Burns, Colonel Joseph Kimball, 
John McMaster, and their followers, in the beginning of the 
present century, to develop the wild Whitefield tract, which the 
early organizers of the township, in their down-country meet- 
ings, had vainly tried to accomplish. 

Samuel Adams was chosen moderator at the first meeting 
of the proprietors of the town, after the close of the war, and 
the early records of the township bear his signature, in tiie 
same unmistakable characters that are shown upon that Record 
of Independent Declarations that made us a nation. 

Perhaps to the energies of Samuel Minot is due the 
revival of interest in the early settlement of Whitefield, after 
the disappearance of the original proprietors. He owned at 
one time, by vendue purchase, more than three fourths of the 
first granted rights of the township. His fatiier. Captain 
Jonas Minot, was the first proprietors' clerk. 

Colonel .Samuel Adams and Captain Robert Piaster were two 



304 mSTOKV OK NEW HAMPSMIKE. [ > 774 

of the chosen assessors, in those primitive days of the town ; 
and their duties as well as all the transactions relating to the 
unsettled location were conducted at a distance of one hundred 
and fifty miles from the place of interest ; the first meeting 
having been held at old Dunstable, which town and its divi- 
sions probably furnished more men for the famous Rogers Ran- 
gers than any other section. Also for the Powers expedition, 
which located and named the wild river along whose hill- 
shadowed valley we are traversing. For many years the early 
proprietors of Whitefield could hardly be content with their 
chartered boundaries, supposing by semi-authoritative descrip- 
tion that the western limit was along the summit of, or near 
to, the Apthorp range of hills ; but the corner monuments of 
Colonel Gerrish, established in 1779, and the blazed line of 
Captain Eames, in 1802, settled the doubt, and the river 
rippled into Dalton at its present boundary, and Blake's 
Pond marked the designated corner. This name was left to 
that fountainless lakelet above Whitefield village, by a famous 
hunter, Moses Blake, who in the wilderness days, here among 
the pines, pitched his cabin and scouted this region for peltries. 
What changes have taken place along this historic stream, 
since the wild Coosauke roamed in undisputed freedom along 
its pine-clad borders ! Or since John Stark, in a military 
point of view New Hampshire's George Washington, as an 
Indian captive, explored its valley, fished its waters, and hunted 
its game-haunted solitudes. The rock-lined hills along its 
boundaries are almost disforested ; the dark-shadowed trail of 
the roving native has become the steel-clad track of civiliza- 
tion ; the scream of the steam whistle echoes above the 
savage war-whoop ; grain-burdened fields and sunny pas- 
tures are spread over the broad uplands, where, but a century 
ago, amid the unbroken forests howled the prowling bear, and 
tramped the unhunted moose, while up from below comes the 
hum of industry from a thousand mill-wheels of improvement. 
It was from the top of the Cherry Mountain that Timothy 
Nash, one of the solitary hunters of this region, in 1771, first 
discovered the old Indian pass now famous as the " White 



17741 ROVAI. PKOVIN'CE. 305 

Mountain Notch." Up one of the rivulet paths he had tracked 
a moose, and finding himself near the highest point, in his 
eagerness for an unobstructed view he climbed a tall tree, and 
from this birchen lookout he saw, away to the southward, what 
he at once surmised must be the hitherto unknown defile. 
Steering with the acquired precision of an old woodman for 
the desired point, he had the satisfaction of realizing the truth 
of his surmises ; for it was indeed the rocky pass, — the gateway 
of the mountains. Admitting to his secret a fellow-hunter, by 
the name of Sawyer, together they repaired to Governor Went- 
worth, at Portsmouth, who, after sufficient and novel proof of 
the fact of the discovery, gave to the fortunate hunters a grant 
of land, since known as the " Nash and Sawyer " location. Nash 
was also one of the original grantees of the town of Whitefield, 
but whether by purchase or in consideration of services rendered 
is not known. 

All along the pathways of the world's history there are scat- 
tered monuments to the memory of its men of mark — pioneers 
in its enterprises, foremost in its leading events, great captains 
in tiie onward march of improvement. Around the headwaters 
of John's and Israel's rivers, in those days, between the depar- 
ture of the Indians and the coming of the white man, settled 
Colonel Joseph Whipple. He was a brother of that General 
William Whipple whose illustrious name goes down to posterity 
along with those others of the framers and signers of that "im- 
mortal instrument " which gave us our liberties. They were 
successful merchants in the town of Portsmouth, and acquired 
large landed estates north of the White Mountains, — most of 
then>, doubtless, as reward for valuable service, both civil and 
military, rendered the State. Colonel Whipple's title to these 
Jefferson meadows followed that of Colonel John Goffe, the 
first owner after the extinction of the Indian titles, and by him 
named Dartmouth. What particular incentive brought Colonel 
Whipple hither so early as 1773 it would be satisfactory to 
know. A luxurious home by the sea-side exchanged for a wild 
haunt among the mountains ; the enjoyments of civilization 
for the deprivations of the wilderness. Was it an inborn love 



30''> IlISTOKV ()|- NI'.W HAMI'SHIKK. [l774 

for adventure to be gratified, or really the acquisition of more 
wealth and power in the development of his broad acres ? Or 
was it the allurements of the grand old mountains themselves, 
and lie 

" A lover true, who knew b^- he:n t 
Kach joy the mountain dales impart." 

The settlement of the colonel lying in the track of the In- 
dians, as they passed from the valley of the Saco to the Con- 
necticut, by way of the Notcii and Cherry Mountain pass, he was 
at times greatly annoyed by the visits of the redskins. They 
never seemed to wish him any harm, however, until during the 
Revolutionary war, lie one day found himself a captive in his 
own house. A wandering party of warriors applied to !iim for 
entertainment, and he, as usual, suspecting no evil intentions, 
admitted them to his house and his table. Their wants supplied 
they coolly informed him of their purpose to take him to Can- 
ada as a prisoner. Feigning submission, he at once commenced 
btistling around in preparation for the journev, telling them they 
jnust wait a little until he could make readv to go. During his 
seeming preparations, he contrived to in.striict his housekeeper 
to gain, by some stratagem, their attention from liis movements ; 
this she successfully did, by the help of some curious mechanism 
which the Colonel possessed. Passing into his sleeping room 
for the alleged purpose of changing his clothing, he leaped from 
a rear window, and ran for the meadow where his workmen 
were engaged in fence-building. Directing each man to shoulder 
a stake, as soon as his would-be captors appeared in search of 
him, the sham hunters started for them. Seeing, as the\' sup- 
posed, a party of v/ell-armed, brawny fellows coming for them 
in dead earnest, the red devils, hastily seizing what booty they 
could conveniently make way with, took to the woods, 'firing as 
they went on a Mr. Gotham, who was a membei" of the Whipple 
household. 

These Indians were, doubtless, members of tlie warlike tribe 
of Sokokies, or Fequauquaukes, who were driven from the valley 
of the Saco and their ancient hunting-grounds by the advance 



17741 KoYAi, I'KoviNci:. 307 

of the wliitc man in the early half of the eighteenth centiu-y. 
They were the most warlike of all the Abenakis tribes, but 
seem to have disbanded after the Lovewell fight, and joined the 
Anasagunticooks of northern Maine, and the Coosaukes at the 
head-waters of the Connecticut, and, in a few years thereafter, 
the St. Francis tribe in Canada. Those who attempted the ab- 
duction of Colonel Whipple were, doubtless, in the employ of the 
English, and this was among the last of hostile demonstrations 
by the subdued natives, before their final disappearance. 

About a mile below the first, or Dodge and Abbott, damming 
of the John's river, is a second artificial obstruction. Here 
was built in early Whitefield days, the "Foster mill," and here 
among the pineries settled one Foster. There are Fosters and 
Fosters ; but there was but one Perley Foster, and he the sire 
of a son who became the hero of two wars. In a humble home 
in this secludetl spot was born, in 1823, Gen. John G. Foster. 

The last trace of the old Foster house is obliterated. Noth- 
ing remams to mark the birth-place of a man of note but the 
dim outlines of a cellar ; not even the traditional sentinel of an 
ancient apple tree. ^ We rememljer to have passed along the 
almost disused, half-forgotten road, one summer day in the long- 
ago, when the old house, from dilapidation, had become unten- 
antable. Clapboards were rattling in the wind ; the doors and 
windows were in useless ruin ; a thicket of unrebuked thistles 
was crowding about the entrance ; and the only thing of beauty 
about the spot was a broad-disked sun-flower, growing upon the 
sunny side, with a flourishing family of tall hollyhocks. After 
awhile the old structure, from constant wind-beatings, tumbled 
down ; the ruins were gathered up or burned, and the site 
plowed under. Descendants of the ancient May-weeds still 
linger around the place of the old gateway, and there are relics 
of a way-side fence; but even the noisy brook, which tinkled its 
way across the road and down into the beaver meadow, is almost 
run dry. 

Thus does time, the obliterator, crowd away the past, with its 
homes and its hallowed spots, to make room lor the future. 

' 1,. W. Uudge. 



308 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['774 

The old Foster mill, by its addition and changes, has lost its 
originality, but the river still rushes onward, singing as it runs, 

" Men may come and men may go. 
But I flow on for ever." 

1 The principal town officers, prior to the war of the Revolu- 
tion, authorized or required by the Province Laws of New 
Hampshire to be elected at the annual town meetings, were a 
moderator for the meetings, town-clerk, treasurer, selectmen or 
"townsmen," constables, fence-viewers, field-drivers or "hay- 
wards," surveyors of highways, surveyors of lumber, sealers of 
weights and measures, sealers of leather, tithingmen, deer-reeve 
or deer keepers, hog-reeves, pound keepers, overseers of the 
poor, and overseers of houses of correction. Several of these 
offices have now for many years become obsolete, there being 
no statute law authoricing them. The powers and duties per- 
taining to some others of them, since the adoption of the con- 
stitution of 1792, differ widely from what they were under the 
Province Laws, while those of others remain substantially as 
before the Revolution. 

The moderator, then as now, was the presiding officer of the 
town meeting, with much the same powers and duties as under 
the present State laws. No person was allowed to speak in the 
meeting without leave first obtained of that dignitary, " nor 
when any other person was speaking orderly." All persons 
also were required to keep silent at the request of the moder- 
ator, under the penalty of five shillings for the breach of every 
such order. (Colonial Laws, IJl8.) By an Act of the General 
Court in 1791, it was further provided that if any person, after 
being notified by the moderator, should persist in disorderly 
conduct, the moderator should order him to withdraw from the 
meeting, and that if the offender should fail to obey, he should 
forfeit and pay a fine of twenty shillings for the use of the 
town. ( Laws of Tjgj, p. 1S7.) 

In puisuance of an Act of the General Court of the Province 
passed in 1 719, the freeholders and otlier inhabitants of each 

• Samuel r, Worcester. 



1/74] KOVAi. i-KoviNci;. 309 

town, having taxable property of the value of £20, were required 
to meet sometime in the month of March annually, and beside 
other town officers, to choose "three, five, seven, or nine able 
and discreet persons of good conversation, inhabitants of said 
town, as selectmen or townsinen." Under the laws of the 
Province no inhabitant had a right to vote at these meetings 
except freeholders and such others as had taxable personal 
estate of the value of ;£20. 

In respect to several matters of public concern, the selectmen 
of towns at that time had much more power and a wider field of 
duty than the like officers of the present day. Unless other 
persons were elected to that office, the selectmen were ex officio 
overseers of the poor of the town, chargeable not only with the 
care of providing for their needs, but also with the further in- 
hosi)itable duty of " warning out " of their town all such new 
comers or settlers as it was feared might become paupers if 
allowed to remain as permanent residents. They also had the 
exclusive charge of the public schools of the town, including 
the building of school-houses, the employment and payment of 
teachers, and the assessment of all school taxes for school build- 
ings and accommodations, and the wages and salaries of school- 
mastei's. In addition to the as.=essment of taxes for schools, it 
was also their duty " to assess taxes upon the polls, personal 
estates, and lands of all the inhabitants of the town in just and 
equal proportion, according to their known abilit\-, for all such 
sums as may have been ordered at the town meeting for the 
support of the ministry, the poor, and all other necessary 
charges of the town." {Colonial Laws of lyiQ- ) Under the 
Province Laws, males were chargeable with a poll tax at the 
age of eighteen. The valuation of some of the items consti- 
tuting the basis of taxation was as follows : — Polls, or white males 
over eighteen years of age, eighteen shillings ; male slaves from 
sixteen to fifty years old, sixteen shillings ; female slaves of the 
like age, eight shillings ; horses and oxen four years old, three 
shillings ; improved land, sixpence per acre. 

The office of " field-driver," one of the town offices in New 
Hampshire for one hundred years and nu/ie, has long since 



JIO HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['774 

j;onc into disuse, and the word itself, though in current use in 
the old colony statutes, is not to be found in the unabridged 
Dictionaries of either Webster or Worcester. It is, however, 
defined in Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms, as "a civil 
ofificer whose duty it is to take up and impound swine, cattle, 
sheep, and horses going at large in the public highways or the 
common and improved lands, and not under charge of a keeper." 
For very many years after the first settlement of most of the 
towns in New Hampshire a very large part of the unimproved 
land was unfenced, the rights of the owners of such land lying 
in common. These common lands in most of the towns fur- 
nished much valuable pasturage for cattle, and acorns and other 
nuts for swine, and by the laws of the Province no cattle, swine, 
or other domestic animals were permitted to run at large upon 
them without the consent of the land owners. If such animals 
were found at large upon the highway, or upon those lands lying- 
in common, without the consent of the owners, it became the 
iluty of the field-driver to impound them, for which service he 
was allowed one shilling each for neat cattle and horses, .and 
three pence each for sheep and swine, to be paid by the owner 
of the animals before being allowed to take them from the 
pound. 

The ancient office of " tithingman," like that of "field- 
driver," has also become obsolete in the State, and the name 
itself, once a terror to rude and wayward youth, very nearly so. 
Two, and in some towns four, of these officials were chosen at 
the annual town meetings. It was among their duties, under 
the colony laws, to visit and inspect licensed public-houses, and 
to inform of all disorders in them. Also to inform of all idle 
and dissolute persons, profane swearers, and Sabbath breakers. 
But one of their principal and most important duties appears to 
have been to attend public worship on the Sabbath, and to take 
note of and prevent all rudeness and disorders during the ser- 
vices, and, if needful, to arrest on view, and to aid in the trial 
and punishment of all such persons as were guilty of irreverent 
or disorderly conduct. In towns where four of these dignitaries 
were chosen, it appears that two of them were expected to take 



1774] KOVAI. HKOVINCR. 3II 

their seats on the lower floor of the meeting-hcusc, to take note 
of all rudeness and disorder "below," and the two others to be 
installed in the gallery, chargeable with the like duties in respect 
to all improprieties and misconduct "above." As a badge of 
this ofifice and authority the colony laws provided that each of 
them should carry " a black staff or wand two feet in length, 
and tipped at one end for about three inches with brass or pew- 
ter." {Colonial Laws of I"] IS) l^y ^n Act of the New Hamp- 
siiire General Court, passed in 1789, the law in respect to 
tithingmen was amended, and their powers and duties somewhat 
enlarged. This amended Act required the tithingmen to be 
chosen to be " persons of good substance and sober life," and 
among other things made it their duty to stop and detain all 
persons travelling on the Sabbath between sunrise and sunset, 
"except in attending public worship, visiting the sick, or on 
.some work of charity." 

By a Province Law enacted in 17 19 swine were not per- 
mitted to run at large between the first day of April and 
the first day of October of each year, without being yoked and 
rung in the mode described in the law ; and two or more offi- 
cials, known as hog-reeves or hog constables, were required to 
be chosen at the annual town meeting, chargeable with the 
duty of enforcing the law at the expense of the guilty owner of 
the swine. The regulation hog yoke, as defined in the law, 
was made of wood, " and to be in length above the swine's 
neck-, equal to the depth of the neck, and half as long below, 
the bottom piece of the. yoke to be equal in length to three 
times the thickness of the neck." The ring, as defined in the 
Act, "was made of strong flexible iron wire to be inserted in 
the top of the nose to prevent rooting, the ends of the wire to 
be twisted together and to project one inch above the nose." 
(Colonial Laivs, IJI^.) The fees of the hog-reeve, as fixed by a 
law passed in 1794, were one shilling for yoking, and sixpence 
for ringing, each swine. 

In accordance with a long-established custom prevailing in 
many towns in New Hampshire, all the young men of the town 
who were married within the year ne.\t preceding the annual 



312 msTUKV OF NEW HAMl'SMIKE. L ' 774 

Maicli election were entitled to the compliment of an election 
to the very honorable and responsible office of hog-reeve. 

The forests of New Hampshire, at the time of its first settle- 
ment, and for many years after, abounded with deer, lioth the 
skin and flesh of these animals being of great value to- the set- 
tlers, laws were passed to prevent the killing of them at such 
seasons of the year as would tend to diminish their natural in- 
crease. By a Province Law enacted in 1741, it was made a 
crime to kill deer between the last day of December and the 
first day of August. An offender against this law was liable, 
on conviction, to a fine of ten pounds. If not able to pay the 
firie he might be sentenced to work forty days for the govern- 
ment for the first offence, and fifty days if he should offend a 
.second time. It was made the duty of the town, at their 
annual March meeting, to choose two officers, known as dccr- 
rccvcs or deer keepers, to see that this law was observed and to 
aid ill the prosecution for its violation, coupled with the au- 
thority to enter and search all places where they had cause to 
suspect that the skins or flesh of deer, unlawful])- killed, had 
been concealed. 

A Colony Law passed in 1719 provided for the erection an d 
regulation of houses of correction for the Province, designed ' 
for the keeping, correcting and setting to work "of rogues, 
\-agabonds, common beggai's, and lewd and idle persons." 
Such persons, on conviction oefore a justice of the peace or the 
court of sessions, were to be sent to the house of correction and 
set to work under the master or overseer of that institution. 
Upon his admission, the unluck)- culprit was to be put in 
shackles, or to be whipped, not to exceed ten stripes, unless 
the warrant for his commitment otherwise directed. {Colonial 
Laws of lyiS-iyig.) Such was the New Hampshire tramp 
law one hundred and seventy years ago. By an Act of the Gen- 
eral Court in 1766, this Act for the maintenance of houses of 
correction was extended to towns, with the like powers and 
duties in lespect to them, and coupled with the duty and au- 
thority to choose masters or overseers of them at the annual 
election. 



J 



It! 



i 



J 



I 



CHAPTER XII. 
STATE UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION, 1784-1792. 

Constitution of 17S4 — First Legislature — First President — Coun- 
cil — Senate — House of Representatives — Lawlessness — Trouble 
AT Keene — Mock Convention at Concord — John Langdon— John 
Sullivan — Mob at Exeter — Federal Constitution — Littleton — 
United States Constitutional Convention — Election under Con- 
stitution — Members of the Continental Congress — Officials at 
Portsmouth — Josiah Bartlett — Town of Bartlett — Orange — 
Revision of Statutes — Constitutional Convention — Ancient 
Singing. 

T^HE Revolution ' had not only involved the colonies in war but 
had thrust upon them the perils of self-government. Ne.xt 
to the demands of the war, and, indeed, essential to its success, 
was the call on the civil wisdom of the country for local insti- 
tutions and new forms of government. The epoch of the 
Revolution was the epoch also of written constitutions. The 
old governments were dissolved ; society was thrown into its 
first elements. Utopian and fantastic ideas of government were 
advanced, and the adoption of a firm and acceptable form of 
government which would protect the people in their newly 
Acquired liberty was a matter of serious consideration. The 
people of New Hampshire had been the first, after the opening 
r)f hostilities, to adopt a written constitution. It had goue into 
>-'ffect early in January, 1776, before the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence ; and its title, "A form of government to continue during 
the present unhappy and unnatural contest with Great Britain," 
was a proof of the unsettled state of public feeling at the time. 
It imposed no restriction on the right of suffrage, and left the 
highest offices open to all. In 1779 a convention had formed 

' William Plumer, Jr. 



402 HISTORV OF NEW llA MPSllIKE. ['784 

a n«w constitution, which proposed that the government should 
be entrusted to a Council and House of Representatives ; ami 
provided that all the male inhabitants of the State, of lawful 
age, paying taxes, and professing the Piotestant religion, should 
be deemed lawful voters in choosing councillors and represen- 
tatives ; and that these officers, aside from the same qualifica- 
tions, should have an estate of ;£300. This constitution was 
rejected by the people. It had been framed about the time of 
the alliance with France, when the soldiery and not the religion 
of that country was wanted. Another convention was called 
in 1781 ; and the constitution which it framed, after alterations 
and amendments had been made, went into operation in 1784. 
One of its clauses declared that " every individual has a natural 
and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates 
of his own conscience and reason,"^ while another article, a 
sort of " compromise between the new spirit of religious free- 
dom and the old intolerance," confined to " Christians " the pro- 
tection of the law for this "unalienable right." Other clauses 
provided that no person should hold the office of governor, 
councillor, senator, delegate, or member of Congress, unless he 
were of the '-Protestant religion." The new constitution met 
with considerable opposition, although parties were not divided 
upon it. Men who were afterwards Federalists and Democrats 
opposed the religious test, notably William Plumer, a law-stu- 
dent, an able writer, and an earnest and eloquent public speaker. 

The treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United 
States of America was signed in Paris, in September, 1783. 
The constitution, containing bill of rights and form of govern- 
ment agreed upon by the delegates of the people of New 
Hampshire, in a convention held at Concord on the first Tues- 
day of June, 1783, had been submitted to and approved by the 
people and had been established by their delegates in conven- 
tion, in October, 1783. It was to go into effect in June, 1784. 

Accordingly in June, 1784, the newly elected legislature, 
perhaps as distinguished a body of men as ever gathered to- 
gether within the limits of the State, assembled at Concord, and 

■ WiULuii Phimor. Ii. 



I7S4J STATE UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION. 403 

proceeded to organize. According to the constitution, the new 
Senate was to be composed of twelve members. 

George Atkinson was chosen speaker of the House ; Woodbury 
Langdon was chosen as senior senator. 

John McClary and Francis Blood, of the Senate, and Josejih 
Badger, Nathaniel Peabody, and Moses Chase, of the House, 
were elected councillors. 

Abiel Foster, Jonathan Blanchard, John Langdon, and Moses 
Dow were appointed delegates to represent New Hampshire in 
Congress for a year, commencing" the following November, but 
all except Mr. Foster refused the honor, and subsequently Samuel 
^Livermore, Pierce Long, and Elisha Paine were associated with 
Mr. I'oster, but two serving at once. 

Samuel Livermore, Josiah Bartlett, and John Sullivan were 
appointed a committee to revise the laws of the State, and to 
draw such new laws as they might deem necessary. 

Ebenezer Thompson was elected secretary for the State ; John 
Taylor Oilman was elected treasurer. 

The pay of the members was si.x shillings a day ; the secretary 
of the State and the clerk of the House received nine shillings. 

The first session at Concord lasted about two weeks, when the 
legislature adjourned to meet in October in Portsmouth. It was 
not until the second meeting that a yea and nay vote was 
recorded. 

A town with one hundred and fifty ratable male polls was 
entitled to one representative ; with four hundred and fifty polls, 
to two ; with seven hundred and fifty polls, to three. Every 
member of the House was seized of a freehold estate in his own 
right of at least ;!Cioo; a senator had to own ^200 in a free- 
hold estate to be eligible for the office. 

His E.xcellency, Meshech VVeare, who had served the State 
throughout the struggle for independence as its chief executive 
officer, was found to have received a large majority of the votes 
cast, and was duly declared elected the first president of the new 
Commonwealth. He was not, however, sworn into office for 
several days after the legislature met. 

On the first day of the session the members of both branches 



404 III>TOKV OK NEW I lA.MFSll IKK. [1/84 

of " The General Court " attended services at the Old North 
Church, and listened to a sermon by Rev. Samuel McClintock, 
of Greenland. So well pleased were they that they voted him 
;^I5 in the afternoon to recompense him. The sermon is on 
file among the archives of the State library, and is worthy of 
perusal after a century has passed by. A few extracts may be 
of interest to the present generation: — 

'■ Hiiw b'coming is it that we should render unto Him in a public manner 
the most devout ascriptions of praise for the great things He has done for us 
in delivering us from the cruel hand of oppression and the impending miseries 
of abject servitude, crowning our arduous struggle in defence of the rights of 
human nature with triumphant success, in acknowledgment of our inde- 
pendence and sovereignty, and in giving us the singular advantage of forming 
a constitution of government for ourselves and our posterity. If we should 
neglect to render due praise to Him on such a great occasion, the heathen 
would rise up in judgment and condemn us for our impietv and ingratitude." 

He speaks of " the present glorious revolution in this land," and continues : 
" Hardly anv people were ever less prepared to enter the list with such a great 
and powerful nation. War was not our object or wish ; on the contrary we 
deprecated it as a dreadful calamity, and continued to hope, even against hope, 
that the gentle methods of petitioning and remonstrating might obtain a re- 
dress of grievances. 

" The war on our part was not a war ofambition, but a justifiable self-defence 
against the claims of an arbitrary power, which was attempting to wrest from 
us the privileges we had all along enjoyed, and to subject us to a state of ab- 
ject servitude. 

"They were men of war from their youth. They had regular troops, used 
to service, who had signalized their valor on the Plains of Minden and on the 
Heights of Abraham, commanded b3' able and experienced generals, amply 
furnished with all the terrible apparatus of death and destruction, and aided 
by mercenary troops who had been bred to arms and were versed in all the 
stratagems of war; add to this they had a navy that ruled the ocean, and 
regular resources to supply their demands. On the other hand, we were inex- 
perienced in the art of war, and had neither disciplined troops, nor magazines 
of provision and ammunition, nor so much as one ship of war to oppose to 
their formidable fleets, nor any regular resources, not even so much as the 
certain prospect of any foreign aid; besides, all the civil governments were 
dissolved and the people reduced back to a state of nature, and in danger of 
falling into anarchy and confusion. . . 

"That people so widely separated from one another by their situation, man- 
ners, customs, and forms of government, should all at once be willing to 
sacrifice their present interests to the public good and unite like a band of 
brothers to make the cause of one State, and even of one town, a common 
cause; and that they should continue firm and united under the greatest dis- 



1784] STATE L-NDER FIRST CONSTITUTION. 405 

couragements .ind Ihe most trying reverses of fortune ; that an army of freemen, 
voluntarily assembled at the alarm of danger — men who had been nurtured 
in the bosom of liberty and unused to slavish restraints, should be willing 
to submit to the severity of military government for the safety of their coun- 
try, and patiently endure hardships that would have tried the fortitude of vet- 
erans, following their illustrious leader in the depths of winter, through cold 
and snow, in nakedness and perils, when every step they took was marked 
with the blood that issued from their swollen feet, and when they could not be 
animated to such patience and perseverance by any mercenary motives, was- 
a rare spectacle, and for its solution must be traced to a higher source." 

The whole sermon shows that the speaker, if not the hearers, 
appreciated the magnitude of the struggle through which the 
colonies had successfully passed, and realized the responsibility 
which devolved upon them in establishing the new state on a 
sure foundation. 

Money at this time was very scarce, that is, gold and silver. 
The Continental currency had depreciated so that forty pounds 
represented one, and was very difficult to dispose of at any 
figure, being thought nearly worthless. The new legislature 
voted to raise ;i£^25,ooo, but were aware of the difficulty of rais- 
ing any. They provided for the pensions of disabled soldiers 
for a lighthouse at Newcastle, and for the pay of the officers of 
the State, but made the collection possible by allowing evi- 
dences of State indebtedness to be received as State taxes. 

At this time the State contained a population of about 140,000 
souls, mostly employed in agricultural pursuits. Portsmouth was 
the only place of much importance, sending three representatives 
to the General Court, but its leading men were the unpopular Mas- 
onian proprietors, and thus its influence was curtailed. Ne.xt in 
importance was the town of Londonderry, where already had 
sprung up a few manufacturing industries. Derryfield sent no 
representative. This was before the days of turnpikes and can- 
als, and the roads were carried over the hilliest and most rocky 
routes, to save expense in maintaining, and were consequently 
as bad as they well could be ; but as they were not much used 
except by foot travellers and horsemen, it did not much matter. 
Bridges were of such a character that they were generally carried 
away by the freshet every spring, while the main dependence 



406 IIISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIKE. ['7^4 

was placed on ferries. The crops on the new lantl on the hill- 
side farms were abundant. Large families of children were 
raised, and were educated in the rudiments at the little school- 
house in every district. On every farm was a self-sustaining 
community: they raised their own wheat, corn, vegetables, maple 
sugar, and all the food required ; they raised their own wool and 
flax ; they tanned their own leather ; they made their own cloth, 
and made their own garments. Every town had its minister. 
Then came the miller with grist-mill and saw-mill ; then the 
blacksmith ; and, lastly, when the town had gained a certain 
standing, a justice of the peace. 

Dartmouth College was granted the right by the first legis- 
lature of the State to hold a lottery in order to raise ^3,000. 

Meshech Weare, the new president of the State, was at this 
time well advanced in years, being over seventy. 

Of the councillors, John McClarv, of Epsom, was a delegate to the 
Provincial Congress whicli met in May, 1775. He died in June iSoi, aged 
eighty-two. 

Gen. Francis Blood, of Temple, was representative all througli the Revolu- 
tionary War. a justice of Court of Common Pleas, and afterwards chief justice. 
He was a man of superior mind, sagacity, and information, for many years 
the leading man of the town, acquired a handsome property, and died in 1790. 

Dr. Nathaniel Peabody, of Atkinson, was one of the distinguished men of 
his times. He was adjutant-general of the State, member of Congress, 
.and major-general of the State militia, 1793. He died in Exeter in June, 1S23. 

General Joseph Badger, son of Captain Joseph Badger, was a tjian of great 
military ardor, and held offices in the militia for thirty years. He was present 
at the capture of Burgoyne in 1779. 

Moses Chase, of Cornish, came of that fomily whicli has given so many 
distinguished names to American history, including that of Chief Justice 
Salmon P. Chase. 

Of the senators, Joseph Gilman, of Exeter, was treasurer of Rockingham 
county. He died in May, 1806. 

Woodbury Langdon, of Portsmouth, was a merchant; a member of the old 
Congress, judge of the Supreme Court, and a firm patriot, devoted to the 
<;ause of his country. 

Timothy Walker, of Concord, only son of Rev. Tiftiothy Walker of Con- 
cord, was justice of Court of Common Pleas, chief justice five years ; candidate 
for governor in 179S. He died in May, 1S22. He filled all the town and State 
offices to which he was elected with fidelity and honor. 

]ohn Langdon. of Portsmouth, was afterwards president of New Hampshire. 

Honorable John Wentworth. of Dover, representative through the war; 



1784] STATE UNDER ElKST CONSTITU I'lON. 4OJ 

one of the executive council of tlie Stale; on tlie Co!ii;r.ittee of Safety; and 
a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was an able lawyer; as a man, 
benevolent, and of a good-natured address, and a statesman of superior abili- 
ties. He died in January, 17S7. 

Ebenezer Smith, w-as a proprietor of Gilmanton, but settled in Meredith in 
1768, and was a "father of the town " for ni;uiy years. He was judsje of 
Probate; lieutenant-colonel of loth regiment militia; and president of the 
Senate two years. He died in August, 1S07. 

Matthew Thornton yas a member of Congress and a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence. 

Simeon Olcott, of Charlestown, was judge of Probate ; chief justice of Court 
of Common Pleas; associate justice of Superior Court in 1790; chief justice 
from 1795 to iSoi ; and United States senator. He died in February, iSij. 

Enoch Hale, of Rindge, was a leading citizen of the town, till he removed 
to Walpole in 17S+. He died in Grafton, Vt., in April. 1813, aged seventy-nine. 

Moses Dow-, of Haverhill, \yas the first lawyer of Grafton county, and for 
some time was register of Probate. 

Of the House of Representatives, George Atkinson, who was born, lived, 
and died in Portsmouth, was a man of considerable ability, strict integrity, 
and of an irreproachable character. He was four times appointed a delegate 
to the Continental Congress, but each time declined the office. He was also 
appointed a member of the Committee of Safety, and declined. He was ap- 
pointed a special justice of the Superior Court. In 17S5 he was one of four 
candidates for president of the State, and received the largest popular vote, 
but failed of an election before the legislature. He died in February, 1788. 

George Gains was one of the Committee of Safety for the State in 1777. 

John Pickering, a native of Newington, was attorney-general in 17S6; re- 
peatedly a member of the legislature ; president of the United States Senate in 
17S9; and governor of the State, ex officio, when Governor John Langdon was 
elected to the United States Senate. In 1790 he was appointed chief justice of 
the Superior Court, and held the office five years. He was afterwards district 
judge of the United States and served till 1804. He died in April, 1S05. 

Colonel Daniel Runnels, of Londonderry, served as captain in Colonel 
Nichols's regiment at Bennington, and as c.iptain in Colonel Peabodys 
regiment in Rhode Island in 177S. He was an able and distinguished citizen. 

Thomas Bartlett, of Nottingham, was among the leading patriots ot 
Rockingham county. He was captain of a company in 1775 at Winter Hiil; 
lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Gilman's regiment in Rhode Island in 1778; a 
member of Committee of Safety in 177S; colonel of a regiment at West Point 
in 17S0; brigadier-general of New Hampshire militia in 1792; representative 
in 1775: speaker o£ the House of Representatives; judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas. He died in June, 1807, aged fifty-nine. 

Moses Leavitt, of North Hampton, actively participated in the war of the 
Revolution. He was appointed captain in the Continental service in 1776, 
and was employed on coast defence during the war. He was representative 
in 1782 and 17S3. 

Hon. Christopher Toppan, of Hampton, was a useful and distinguished 



408 IlISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [^7^4 

citizen, son of Dr. Edmund Toppan, and grandson of Rev. Christopher 
Toppan, of Newburv, Mass. His mother was a daughter of Colonel Joshua 
Wingate. He was often a representative and councillor. He died in Febru- 
ary, 1S19, aged eightv-four. 

Daniel Emerson, of HoUis, was coroner for Hillsborough county; captain 
in Rhode Island expedition ; representative and councillor. He died in 
October, 1S21. 

Lieutenant Robert Wallace, of Henniker, was a native of Londonderry; 
judge of Court of Common Pleas for Hillsborough county, and councillor 
from 17SS to 1S03. He died in January, 1S15. 

John Duncan, of Antrim, a native of Londonderry, was a prominent 
citizen, serving as town-clerk, representative, selectman, and senator. He 
died in March. 1S23. 

John Underbill, of Chester. 

John Cram, one of the chief men in the town of Pittsfield. 

Captain Jeremiah Clough, of Canterbury, was a veteran of Bunker Hill, 
and an active and influential citizen. 

Maior Nathan Bachelder, of Loudon, was one of the most active and influ- 
ential citizens of that town from its organization until the close of the 
century. 

Samuel Daniell, of Pembroke, was a lending citizen of that tjwn. 

Colonel Nathaniel Emerson, of Candia, was '■ called to public stations 
perhaps more than any other individual who ever lived in Candia." 

Jeremiah Eastman, of Deerfield, was born in December, 1732, in Kensing- 
ton, and settled in Deerfield. 

James Betton, of Windham, was a farmer, surveyor, and auctioneer. 

Major Jonathan Wentworth, of Somersworth, was captain in siege of 
Boston. 

John Sanborn, from Sanbornton, a veteran of the old French war, and a 
soldier of the Revolution, was a benevolent, generous-hearted man, of dig- 
nity and presence, full of dry humor. 

Robert Means, of Amherst, born in Ireland, was noted for his hon- 
ebtv, fair dealing, close attention to business, and in time became one of the 
most widely known and distinguished merchants in the town or State. 

Benjamin Mann, of Mason, commanded a company at the battle of Bunker 
Hill. He moved to Keene in iSoo. and died in iSoi. 

Mr. Ephraim Adams, of New Ipswich, was one of the leading men of that 
town for many years. 

Matthew Wallace, of Peterborough, was seventeen times moderator; eleven 
years town-clerk ; six years selectman ; six years representative. 

Captain Francis Davis, of Warner, was the first representative from War- 
ner, both to the Provincial Congress at Exeter as well as under the constitution. 
«i Elijah Grout, of Charlestown, was very active and widely known through- 
out the Revolution. He was a brave and good man. He was intelligent and 
far-seeing, and had all the qualities of a sterling man. 

William Smiley, of Jatfrey, an early settler, was a prominent and influen- 
tial man. 



I7S4] STATE UNDER EIKST CONSTITUTION". 4O9 

Samuel King, of Chesterfield, was a phvsician. 

Stephen Powers, of Croydon, was an early settler of that place, and was 
distinguished for his giant frame, great physical strength, and vigorous in- 
tellect. 

Colonel Timothy Bedel, of Bath, was prominent all through the Revolu- 
tion, holding important commands on the northern frontier. 

Moses Baker, of Campion, was the great-grandfather of Hon. Henry W. 
Blair. 

Such, with their associates of like character, were the men 
chosen by the yeomanry of New Hampshire to organize the new 
State government. To them was intrusted the welfare of the 
Commonwealth at the most important and trying time of its his- 
tory, — a period of depression and distress such as had hardly 
been felt in the sharpest crisis of the war itself. The close of 
hostilities with England brought with it no relief to the suf- 
ferings of the people, but seemed for a time rather to aug- 
ment them. A feeling of very general discontent pervaded 
the public mind, no longer held in check by a foreign foe. 
The government was weak and inefficient, the people poor and in 
debt, credit both public and private impaired, or rather well-nigh 
destroyed. A depreciated paper currency took the place of specie ; 
tender laws and the further issues of paper were loudl)' called for 
by the discontented and debtor party, as the only remedy for the 
great and acknowledged evils of the times ; and the courts of law 
were more than ever surrounded by mobs, whose avowed purpose 
was to prevent the judges from proceeding in the trial of cases. 
In Keene, nearly two years before, the judges of the Superior 
Court, accompanied by the attorney-general, John Sullivan, 
were warned in the outskirts of the village that a mob had col- 
lected about the court-house,' who would resist with violence any 
attempt to enforce the laws. Sullivan undertook to get the 
court, with as little loss of dignity as possible, out of the hands of 
the mob. He accordingly halted the party while he put on his 
uniform of a general in the Continental army — blue coat, bright 
btittons, sword, and cocked hat with plume, that had been seen 
on nearly every battlefield of the Revolution, — mounted his pow- 
erful gray horse, and, preceding the court, conducted them into 
the town. An armed assembly had gathered about the court- 



410 iriSTOKY OF NEW HAMPSIIIKE. [^7^4 

house, sullen in their aspect and resolute in their purpose to pre- 
vent the transaction of business, who gave way, however, and 
allowed the court to enter. The judges having taken their seats, 
the court was opened in due form by the crier, while the crowd 
rushed tumultuously in and filled the house. Sullivan, who was 
a man of fine personal appearance, dignified aspect, and com- 
manding deportment, stood in the clerk's desk and calmly and 
resolutely surveyed the multitude, recognizing among them offi- 
cers and soldiers who had served with him. He seemed once 
more their trusted commander, and the instinct of obedience was 
working strongly in the mass, who felt his presence and involun- 
tarily obeyed the motions of their old chief. With dignity he 
took off his cocked hat, disclosing a profusion of white powdered 
hair, unbelted his long sword and deliberately laid them on the 
table. Having gained their attention, and silence ensuing 
after considerable disturbance, he demanded of them why 
they had come before the court in such a turbulent manner. 
He was answered by many voices: "The petition! the peti- 
tion ! " and a committee stepped forward with a huge roll of 
paper which Sullivan received and presented to the court. The 
clerk having read it, Sullivan addressed the people, courteously 
but firmly, on the impropriety of any attempt to influence, even 
by the appearance of violence, the deliberations of the court; 
told them their petition would be considered ; and directed them 
to withdraw. They obeyed with reluctance, whereupon the 
court adjourned until the next day, in hope that the mob would 
disperse. In the afternoon Sullivan addressed them on the sub- 
ject of their complaints, and advised them to return to their 
homes. On the opening of the court the next morning the 
house was full of people, impatient for the answer to their peti- 
tion. Sullivan, now in citizen's dress, with grace and dignity 
said that he was instructed by the court to inform them that the 
court would continue all causes on the civil docket in which 
either party was not ready for trial, as the court was due in another 
county. Upon which announcement the people withdrew with 
cheers for General Sullivan. The mob had effected its puv- 
pose, and the dignity of the court had been sustained. At 



1784] STATK UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION. 411 

this time Keene ami the towns bordering on tlie CtHinecticut 
were lukewarm in their allegiance to the New Hampshire au- 
thorities. 

In Massachusetts a similar condition of things led, in 1786, 
to Shays's rebellion ; and in this State, at an earlier period of 
that year, events seemed fast tending to a like dangerous issue. 
Many town and county conventions were held, and petitions for 
a redress of grievances were presented to the legislature. Del- 
egates from some of the conventions assembled in Concord 
during the June session, where they were assisted to organize 
by several active young men, some of whom were afterwards 
distinguished in the service of the State, who, although not prop- 
erly chosen members, conceived the idea of turning the pro- 
ceedings into ridicule. Having been admitted without question, 
as delegates from their respective towns, they at once took a 
leading part, taking different sides to avoid an appearance of 
concert, and vied with the true members in their zeal for reform. 
After a debate of several hours the convention adopted a series 
of resolutions, and appointed a committee, of which William 
Plumer, one of the eleven young conspirators, was chairman, to 
report a petition to the legislature. This petition, which was 
reported the next morning, embodied the substance of the reso- 
lutions, and was unanimously adopted by the convention. Among 
other things it requested the legislature to abolish the Court of 
Common Pleas, to establish town courts, to restrict the number 
of lawyers to two in a county, and to provide for the issue of 
State notes to the amount of three million dollars, the same to 
be legal tender in payment of all debts. The issue of paper 
money by the State was the favorite measure of the discontented 
and debtor party, and the mock members of the convention 
could hardly keep pace with the real ones in the extravagance 
of their suggestions. Dr Jonathan Gove, of New Boston, who 
represented ten towns in Hillsborough county, proposed to raise 
the amount named to twelve millions of dollars, to pay all debts 
public and private. The convention went in a body to present 
their petition, and were gravely received by the legislature. 
The speaker showed them ceremonious attention, and, as one of 



412 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l/SS 

the delegates said, treated them "with superfluous respect," 
laying their memorial on the table. Having again assembled at 
their place of meeting, Mr. Plumer addressed them and showed 
the absurdity of their proceedings ; after a heated discussion 
the convention broke up in disorder : and for sometime the very 
name of a convention became a term of reproach. ^ 

The dispute between the people of New Hampshire and the 
inhabitants of the Hampshire grants and the authorities of New 
York as to the western boundary of New Hampshire had been 
settled by the Continental Congress admitting into the Union the 
new State of Vermont. About this time several New Hampshire 
towns situate in the Connecticut valley were tempted to throw 
off their allegiance to New Hampshire ; but happily more pru- 
dent counsels prevailed and the separation did not take place. 

John Langdon, who was elected second president of the State 
in 1785, after Meshech Weare had declined to serve, was born in 
Portsmouth in 1740, was a merchant, shipbuilder, and a patriot. 
He helped seize the ammunition at Fort William and Mary in 
1774, built the Ranger for John Paul Jones, was a delegate to the 
Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776, served with Stark at 
Bennington, was again elected president of the State in 1788, a 
delegate to the convention which framed the constitution of the 
United States, and to the State convention which accepted it. 
He was the first United States senator elected, and was chosen 
president of that body, and as such informed General Washing- 
ton of his election. After he left Congress he was elected gov- 
ernor five times. From a Federalist he became a Republican, and 
later a Democrat. 

General John Sullivan was chosen president of New Hampshire 
in 1786. The want of money and the depression in business 
were evils too deeply rooted to be removed by ridicule, mock 
conventions, or idle talk. The people were in distress, especially 
the veterans of the Continental army. New conventions were 
called in different parts of the State. In the Rockingham con- 
vention, held in Chester, it was resolved to send to E.xeter, 
where the legislature was to meet in September, a body of 

■ William Plumer, Jr. 



1786] STATE UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION. 413 

armed men to enforce their claims. Accordingly about two 
hundred men, under command of Joseph French, of Hampstead, 
and James Cochrane, of Pembroke, some armed with muskets and 
others with clubs, marched into Exeter, and sent in their petition to 
the General Court for a redress of grievances, declaring their inten- 
tion, if it was not granted, to do themselves justice. They sur- 
rounded the house in which the legislature was in session, and, 
placing sentinels at the door and windows, demanded an imme- 
diate answer to their petition. The House appointed a com- 
mittee on the petition ; but the Senate, under the influence of 
Sullivan, who was now president of the State, and as such had 
a seat in the Senate, refused to act on the subject while they 
were thus besieged by the mob, and proceeded with their ordi- 
nary business.^ A party of the friends of order armed them- 
selves, and called upon all good citizens to disperse the mob and 
thus set the members of the legislature at liberty. General 
Sullivan came out, accompanied by Nathaniel Peabody, Ebenezer 
Webster, and other officers of the Revolution and friends of gov- 
ernment, and ordered the mob to disperse. Armed citizens in 
their rear, pressing on them and calling for the artillery to ad- 
vance, the mob began to retire ; and French, finding that the 
legislature was not frightened by threats, withdrew with his 
men some distance from the village for the night. Sullivan 
summoned the militia, and on the following morning nearly two 
thousand assembled and were led by General Cilley against the 
insurgents, who made some show of resistance. Upon being 
ordered to fire by Major Cochrane they broke and fled in disor- 
der, and the militia captured thirty-nine of their number. The 
question now arose as to what should be their punishment. 
They had been guilty of treason or of some high offence. The 
leaders were brought before the two Houses in convention. 
French made very humble supplications for his life. Cochrane, 
who had been a soldier in the Revolution, pled for pardon with 
some self-respect. Both stated that they had been encouraged 
in their course by men in high standing, some of them members 
of the legislature, who now repudiated all connection with their 

■ William Pkimer, Jr. i 



414 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l/S/ 

acts. The leaders now became as an.xious to get rid of their 
captives as they had been the day before to capture them. Most 
of them were indicted, but allowed at the next term of court to 
escape without punishment. Such as were church members 
were dealt with by their churches ; militia officers were dis- 
missed from the service. It was deemed good policy, as no 
blood had been shed, to treat this first attempt at armed resist- 
ance to the Government with lenity, yet so as to vindicate the 
violated authority of the law, thus attacked at the fountain head. 

Littleton is a part of the territory originally granted as Chis- 
wick.^ Subsequently it was called Apthorp. In 1784 it was 
divided, forming the present towns of Littleton and Dalton. 
The first town meeting in Littleton appears to have been 
held on the 19th day of July, 1787, at the house of Nathan 
Caswell, the first settler in the town, the same having been- 
called by John Young, by authority granted by the legislature, 
who by the same authority served as moderator. At this meet- 
ing Robert Charlton was chosen clerk, Samuel Larnard, John 
Chase and Perley Williams, selectmen, and Sargent Currier, 
constable. Until 1809 the town was classed with various others, 
the arrangement being changed at different times, for the pur- 
pose of choosing a representative to the General Court. The 
first resident of Littleton chosen representative was James Wil- 
liams, in 1794. The next was James Rankin, in 1798; then 
David Goodall, from 1800 to 1806 inclusive, the class then in- 
cluding Littleton, Dalton, and Bethlehem. - 

The year 1787 is memorable as that in which the constitution 
of the United States was formed. Highly as that instrument is 
now prized, it was not received with much favor by the people 
on its first promulgation. It met, in all the States, with many 



' It has been a central point in While Mountain travel ever since tourists and pleasure seekers com- 
menced visiting this now celobrnted region. Even before the construction of the railroad, it was, in 
the summer time, a great stage depot, where centred the various lines to the mountains from the wes- 
tern approach. It is, however, since the construction of the White Mountains Railroad, which was 
completed to this point in 1853, that the growth of the place in population and business importance has 
mainly occurred. From 1S53 until 1S70, when the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad, having 
come into possession of the White Mountains road, extended the line to Lancaster and Fabyan's, 
Littleton enjoyed the advantage of being a railroad terminus, which contributed materially to its 
development as a trade centre. 

2 H. H. Metcalf. 



4l6 HISTORY- OF .NEW IIAMl'SHIKE. ['"88 

opponents ; and in several it was adopted only after repeated 
trials, and by small majorities. ' 

In more than half the States its ratification was accompanied 
by proposed amendments, without which it would probably have 
been rejected. A government for the Union was proposed by 
constitution for the first time. The votes of the Revolution- 
ary Congress had no legislative authority ; even the articles of 
confederation, which went into operation in 1781, merely formed 
a league or alliance between independent States. The people 
who believed in establishing a strong central government were 
called Federalists; those who believed in State rights were soon 
called Anti-Federalists. After its ratification the friends of the 
first two administrations retained the name of Federalists, 
while their opponents took that of Republicans. The Federal- 
ists were succeeded by the Whigs, and later by the Republicans 
the Anti-Federalists became Republicans, and at length 
Democrats ; the two great political parties into which the people 
of the United States are divided at the present time. In gen- 
eral the Federalists were in favor of a liberal construction and 
e.vercise of the powers of the general government ; and the Re- 
publicans, in theory always, and to a considerable extent in prac- 
tice, were for narrowing down those powers to their least possible 
extent. The election of delegates to the convention, which was 
to accept the proposed constitution or to reject it, drew into two 
parties the people, who became thoroughly familiar with its provi- 
sions from frequent private and public discussions. Men equally 
honest and intelligent belonged to both parties. 

The convention chosen to accept or reject in behalf of the 
State the Federal Constitution met at the Court House at 
Exeter, February 13, 1788. That instrument had already re- 
ceived the approval of six States. Upon the meeting of the dele- 
gates it was found that there was a powerful opposition to the 
proposed form of government, many of the members from the 
. smaller towns having been instructed to vote against it. The 
convention included many of the leading men of the State. The 
leading Federalists were John Sullivan, John Langdon, Samuel 

■ \Villi.im Plumer, Jr. 



1788] STATE UXUEK EIKST CONSTITUTION. 417 

Langdoii, Samuel Livermoie, Josiah Bartlett, John Pickering, 
John Taylor Oilman, and Benjamin licllovvs. The leaders of tlie 
opposition were Joseph Badger, Joshua Atherton, William Hooper, 
Matthias Stone, Abiel Parker, and Jonathan Dow. During the 
early debates it seemed that the opponents of the constitution had 
a majority in the convention. The friends of the Union did 
not dare to let a decisive vote be taken, and after a session of 
seven days brought about an adjournment, in order to let those 
delegates whom they had won over return to their constituents 
for different instructions. The convention again assembled in 
June, at Concord, and in the meanwhile two more States had 
voted to accept the constitution. Thus devolved upon New 
Hampshire the responsibility of casting the ninth or decisive 
vote, which would put the new form of government in operation. 
New York and Virginia were considering the measure, in con- 
vention, at the same time. June 21, by a vote of 57 yeas to 47 
nays the New Hampshire convention voted to accept the federal 
constitution, but at the same time proposed several amendments. 
A messenger was sent post haste to notify the convention then 
sitting in New York, and undoubtedly caused favorable action 
in that body. 

Tradition asserts that one delegate, of pronounced Anti-F"ed- 
ei'al convictions, was being "dined and wined" at the house of 
Judge Walker at the time the decisive vote was being taken, 
and failed to have his vote recorded. 

At the meeting of the legislature in the fall of 1788 the choice 
of two senators to the first Congress of the United States under the 
new constitution devolved upon it. The two Houses refused to 
meet in convention and accordingly voted separately by ballot. 

In the House John Langdon had all but three votes, where- 
upon William Plumer offered a resolution declaring that Mr. 
Langdon was duly elected, and called for the yeas and nays, thus 
putting every member's vote on record. His object did not ap- 
liear at the time, but was understood, when the ballot for the 
second senator was taken, to establish a precedent. The two 
candidates were Josiah Bartlett and Nathaniel Pcabody ; and the 
latter, an AntiT'^cderalist, had a considerable majority, which 



4l8 HI6TUKV OI" NEW HA.Ml'SIUKi;. [^7^8 

was rctluced to two on tiic roll call, Mr. Plunier, in a plain and 
forcible speech, having denounced Mr. Peabody as unfit for the 
office, and extolled Dr. Bartlett. It had the desired effect on 
the Senate, which sent down the name of Dr. Bartlett : and he 
was finally elected. Dr. Bartlett declined the honor, however ; 
and Paine Wingate was chosen in his place. Mr. Peabod}'' felt 
mortified and provoked at the result, talked loudly of his vio- 
lated honor, and threatened to chastise his assailant. A prompt 
intimation that more or worse would be said if he moved far- 
ther put an end to his threats, though not to his hostility. 

At the December session of the legislature to count the votes 
for electors and announce the result it was found there had 
been no choice by the pcojile. Again the Senate refused to 
meet the House in convention, causing an exciting and angry 
controversy ; but the House at the last moment yielded the 
point. President Sullivan violently opposed the claim of the 
Senate, while William Plumer favored it.' 

2 p\-w if an\' of the original thirteen States had an abler or more 
influential rc^jresentation in the various Continental Congresses 
by which the war of the Revolution was directed tiian New 
Hampshire, a representation which was continued, in point of 
ability and influence, in the various congresses which met under 
the Articles of Confederation, until the constitution was adop- 
ted, and the first Congress met at New York in 17S9. From the 
meeting of the first Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Sep- 
tember 5, 1774, to the adjournment of the last Congress under 
the Confederation, at New York, October 21, 1778, New Hamp- 
shire was represented by eighteen of her wisest and most 
prominent men. Several of these, as for instance Nathaniel 
Folsom, John Langdon, Samuel Livermore, and John Sullivan, 
serv'ed for several terms, having been engaged in other patriotic 
service in the intervals between their terms of service. 

When the first Continental Congress met at Philadeljihia, 
September 5, 1774, New Hampshire had two representatives, 
Nathaniel Folsom and John Sullivan. 

■ Williaiii PUiiiiLT, Jr. = W. V. Wlii-.ch.:r. 



1788] STATE UNDER EIKST CONSTITUTION. 4I9 

Nathaniel Folsom was born al Exeter, in i7-'6. lie early evinced ability 
^vhich gave him prominence in the aftairs of the Province. In the Seven 
"i'ears" War he served as captain in the regiment commanded by Colonel 
lilanchaid. He was active in militia affairs, and commanded the 4th 
regiment at the outbreak of the Revolution. He was a delegate to the 
first Continental Congress at Philadeljihia. In April, 1775, he was appointed 
brigadier-general to command the State troops sent to Massachusetts, and 
served during the siege of Boston. He was subsequently major-general. He 
was again a delegate to the congresses which met at Lancaster, Penn., 
Philadeli)hia, York, and Philadelphia, serving the whole time in the first 
three of these congresses, and about a year, 1779-S0, in the last. In each of 
these he was regarded as a valuable member. In 177S he was a member of 
the New Hampshire Executive Council, and was the President of the State 
constitutional convention which prepared the first constitution of the State 
in 17S3. He died at E,\eter, where, for the greater part of his life, he had his 
home. May 26, 1790. 

jolin Sullivan. 

Josi.ili Bartlett. 

John Langdon, born in Portsmouth, June 25, 1741, was one of the most 
active citizens of the Slate in the movements leading to the Revolution. He 
was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, and was appointed con- 
tinental navy agent. Largely at his own expense he equipped General 
Stark's regiment which won the battle of Bennington. He was elected to the 
Continental Congress in 17S6; was for a number of years a member of the 
State House of Representatives and several times speaker. He was elected 
president of the State in 17S8, and United States senator in 17S9 and in 1795. 
He was elected governor in 1S05, 1S06, 1S07, iSoS, and 1810. He declined the 
office of secretary of the navy offered to him by President Jefferson, and the 
office of vice-president tendered by the Democratic delegation in 1S12. He 
died in Portsmouth, September iS, 1819, mourned as one of the most honored 
and distinguished citizens of the State. 

Woodbury Langdon. an older brother of John, was born at Portsmouth 
in 1739, and, like his brother, early engaged in mercantile pursuits. He 
served for about a year, 1779-17S0, in the Continental Congress, rendering 
valuable service in the councils of the time. For three years, from 17S1 to 
1784, he was a member of the State Executive Council. In 1782 he was ap- 
pointed one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State, serving but a 
short time, however. In 1786 he was again appointed, serving till 1790. He 
died at Portsmouth, January 13, 1805. 

One of the most honored names in New Hampshire's early history is that 
of Matthew Thornton. He was born in Ireland in 1714, and came, when a 
mere lad, to America, living for a while at Wiscasset, Me. Removing to 
Worcester, he received an academic education, studied medicine, and 
began his practice in the historic town of Londonderry. In the famous 
expedition of Sir William Pepperrell against Louisburg he served as 
surgeon, and was afterward prominently connected with the colonial militia, 



420 IIISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 788 

hoUling for several years a commission as colonel. lie was a member of the 
convention which declared New Hampshire to be a sovereign State. He served 
in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1778, and in the latter year resigned 
to accept the chief justiceship of Hillsborough county. He held this position 
only about two years, resigning to accept an appointment on the supreme 
bench of the State. In 17S3 he was a member of tlie Stale House of Repre- 
sentatives, and the next year of the State Senate. The yearfollowing he was 
a member of the Executive Council, but soon afterward removed to Massa- 
chusetts. He died at Newburyport, Mass., June 24, 1804, in his ninety- 
first year. 

William Whipple, born at Kittery, January 14. 1730, received his education 
on board a vessel, being bred a sailor, and was in command of a vessel in the 
African trade before he readied his twenty-first birthday-. During the Seven 
Years' War he retired from a seafaring life and engaged in mercantile 
pursuits, at Portsmouth, in which he was remarkably successful. In 
1775 iie was elected a member of the Continental Congress, tak!ig his 
seat in May; was re-elected in 1776, talking his seat in February, in time to 
immortalize himself as one of the signers of the Declaration. He was again 
elected in 177S, but did not take his seat till some time after the opening of 
the congress, as in the meantime he had accepted the command of a brigade 
for the defence of Rhode Island. He declined further re-elections to Con- 
gress which were tendered him, and resigned his militar_v commission, June 
20, 17S2. He was a member of the State Assembly, 17S0-1784; superinten- 
dent of finance of the State, 17S2-17S4. In 1782 he wasappointed a judge ot 
the State Supreme Court, holding the position till obliged to relinquish it on 
account of disease. While captain of a vessel in the African trade he engaged 
to some extent in the slave-trade, but after the opening of the war of the 
Revolution he emancipated all his slaves, and refused to assist General Wash- 
ington in the recovery of a servant of Mrs. Washington, who had run away 
and taken refuge in Nev^ Hampshire. Captain Whipple, as he was familiarly 
called, died suddenly, of heart disease, November 28, 17S5. 

George Frost was born at Newcastle, April 26, 1727, and after receiving a 
public school education, entered the employ of his uncle, the celebrated mer- 
chant, Sir William PepperrelKat Kittery Point. For several years he followed 
a seafaring life as supercargo and captain, but in 1770 abandoned the sea and 
removed to Durham. He was made a judge of the Strafford county Court of 
Common Pleas in 1773, and served till 1791, for several of these years being 
chief justice. He was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777, 
and served, rendering good service, till 1779. For the three years 1781-1784 he 
was a member of the Executive Council. Resigning his seat on the bench 
at the age of seventy, he retired to private life, and died at Durham, June 21, 
1796, in his seventy-seventh year. 

Little needs to be said of the Wentworths, a familyof the first prominence in 
the colonial and early history of New Hampshire, and the list of members of 
the Continental Congress could hardly be said to be complete unless it em- 
braced the name of a Wentworth. John Wentworth, Jr., was born at Somers- 



1 788] STATK UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION. 42 I 

wortli, July 17, 1745, and graduated at Harvard College in the class of 
176S. He was admitted to tlie bar and commenced the practice of law 
at Dover in 1770. This same year he was appointed bj Governor John 
Wentworth register of probate for Strafford county. Was a member of the 
State House of Representatives from 1776 to 17S0, and served as a member of 
the Continental Congress for nearly the whole of 1778 and 1779. He was a 
member of the State Senate 17S1-1784, and of the Executive Council 17S0— 
17S4. He was recognized as a man of the most brilliant talents and of great 
promise, and his early death, which occurred at Dover, January 10, 17S7, was 
deeplv regretted by all the people of the State. 

Nathaniel Peabody was born at Topsfield, Massachusetts, March i, 1741. 
He was the son of Dr. Jacob Peabody, with whom he studied medicine, and 
after being licensed commenced practice at Plaistow in 1761. 

He was an ardent advocate of the Revolution, and was commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel in the militia in 1774, and was the first man in the pro- 
vince to resign a royal commission. He was elected one of the Committee of 
Safety January 10, 1776, and was appointed adjutant-general of the State 
militia July 19. 1779. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1779, 
and again in 17S6, but tlie latter time did not act. He was for eight years a 
member of the State legislature, and in 1793 was elected speaker. Few merb 
rendered the State better service in both civil and military capacity during- 
the Revolutionary period, but in his last years lie became financially em- 
barrassed and died in jail at Exeter, June 27, 1S23, wliere he had been impris- 
oned for debt. 

Of Philip White little is known beyond the fact that he was a native of New 
Hampshire, and was probably a member of the lamily of Whites that were 
among the early settlers of Rockingham county. He served a short time as- 
one of the delegates from New Hampshire in the Continental Congress that 
met at Philadelphia, July 2, 1778. His term of service was in tlie latter part 
of 17S2 and during the early months of 1783. Like some congressmen of the 
present day he was not much heard from, and made no enduring mark. 

Livermore is one of the honored names of New Hampshire history. Sam- 
uel Livermore in 1780 was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, 
taking his seat in February of that year, but resigned in June, 1782, to accept 
the chief justiceship of the New Hampshire Court of Common Pleas. 

Jonathan Blanchard served in the Continental Congress in 17S3-S4. 

Abiel Foster, pastor of the Congregational church in Canterbury, was a. 
member of the Continental Congress in 17S3 and 17S4, and was several times 
elected to Congress under the Constitution. 

John Taylor Oilman is perhaps best known to students of New Hampshire 
as the man who held for the longest period the chief executive office. His 
father was for a long time receiver-general of the Province, and afterward of 
the State, and he was for several years assistant to his father. In 1782-178^ 
hewasa delegate from New Hampshire to the Continental Congress. In 1794 
he was elected governor as a Federalist, and was re-elected each year till 1S05, 
when he was defeated by John Langdon, Democrat, by nearly 4000 majority. 



422 HISTORV 01" NEW HAMl'SHIKE. [l 



In iSiJ he was again the Federal candidate. Init failing a majority of votes by 
the people, his opponent William Plumer was elected bj' the legislature. In 
1S13 he was again elected governor by a majority of 500 votes, and was re- 
elected in 1S14 and 1S15, each time by about the same majority. Governor 
■Gilman well earned the title of being the Federal governor par excellence of 
the State. He was born in Exeter, December 19, 1753; and died there 
August 21, 1S28. 

His brother, Nicholas Gilman, was born at Exeter in 1762, and served in the 
Revolutionary war as lieutenant, captain, adjutant, and adjutant-general. From 
1786 to 17SS he was the youngest member of the Congress of the Confederation. 
He was a member of the first, second, third and fourth congresses, serving till 
March3, 1797, when he took his seat in the United States Senate as a Democrat. 
His election to this position was the first break in the New England Federa- 
Jists in the Senate, who up to this had been solidly Federal. He was re-elec- 
ted in 1805, and again in iSii, and died at Philadelphia, on his way home. 
May 3, 1S14. Congress had adjourned April iS. During liis senatorial 
•career he was as ardent a Democrat as was his brother John Tavlor a Fed- 
■eralist. 

Pierce Long was a native of Portsmouth ; born in 1739, he became, on 
reaching inanhood, a partner with his father in the shipping business. In 
1775 he was a delegate to the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire, and on 
the breaking out of hostilities served in the Revolutionary army as colonel 
of the (st New Hampshire regiment, especially distinguishing himself at 
Ticonderoga. In 17S4, 17S5, and part of 17S6 he was an efficient member 
of the Continental Congress. He was a member of the Executive Council 
17S6-17S9, and member also of the State Constitutional Convention of 178S. 
In 1789 he was appointed by President Washington collector of customs at 
Portsmouth, where he died April 3, 1799. 

Paine Wingate -was another of New Hampshire's members of the Conti- 
•nental Congress who was liberally educated. He was born at Amesbury, 
Massachusetts, May 14, 1739, and graduated at Harvard in 1759. Like Abiel 
Foster he studied theology, and December 14, 1763, was ordained over the 
church at Hampton Falls, remaining as its minister till March iS, 17S1, when 
he was dismissed; removed to Stratham and engaged in farming. In the 
latter part of 1787 and the former part of 17S8 he served for a brief period in 
the Continental Congress, and was one of the first United States senators 
from New Hampshire, serving four years from March 4, 17S9. He was elec- 
ted representative to the third Congress, serving two years. F'rom 1798 to 
1S09 he was one of the judges of the Superior Court, retiring w hen he reached 
his seventieth birthday. He passed liis last years in Stratham, dying there 
March 7, 1S3S, having nearly completed his ninety-ninth year. His life, cov- 
ering as it did tlie field of theology, politics and law, extending through nearly 
a century, was a remarkable one. 

These eighteen names deserve to be placed on New Hampshire's roll of 
honor. They belong to men whose lives, services, and character had an in- 
t-alculable influence in making New Hampshire what it has been and is, in 



1788] STATE UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION-. 423 

■^iviiii;- it its honorable place in American hisloi'v. T!u- names of these 
patriots are worthv to be helii in remembrance b_v every son ol' the Granite 
State. 

The following account of the custom and post offices is from 
the pen of the late Hon. Thos. L. Tullock, a native of Portsmouth: 

About the year 1675 Sampson Sheafe, senior, was collector of 
the port of Piscataqua, and continued in office a few years. Dur- 
ing his administration several vessels were seized for a violation 
<if the revenue laws, or the laws of " trade and navigation." He 
was successful as a merchant ; honored as one of His Majesty's 
Council, and also as secretary of the Province. His descendants 
Lecame prominent and wealthy citizens of the Province. His 
great-grandson, the Hon. James Sheafe, an opulent merchant of 
Portsmouth, was a member of the Sixth Congress and a United 
States senator. He was also the Federal candidate for governor 
of New Hampshire in 18 16, but was defeated by William PI ti- 
mer. Mr. Sheafe died December 5, 1829, aged seventy-four. 

In 1680 Edward Randolph was the collector of customs for 
New P3ngland, and Walter Barefoote was deputy collector. 

In 1692 Phesant Estwick was the deputy collector of the port 
of Portsmouth. 

About the year 1700 Samuel Pcnhallow was appointed col- 
lector. He was an eminent citizen, one of the governor's Coun- 
cil, chief justice of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1717, 
recorder of deeds, treasurer of the Province, and held other 
responsible positions. He married a daughter of President John 
Cutt, and inherited in his wife's right a large estate. He died in 
December, 1726, aged sixty-two. 

Hon. Theodore Atkinson, senior, who died September 22, 
1779, aged eighty-two, was ^o"" niany years the secretary of the 
Province, and held other offices of reputation, such as president 
of council, and chief justice of the Superior Court of Judicature. 
He was the son of Hon. Theodore Atkinson, of Newcastle, 
and the father of Hon. Theodore Atkinson, junior, and 
preceded and succeeded him in the office of secretary of the 
Province. He had also been collector of customs, naval officer 
of the i)ort, and sheriff of the Province ; but Jonathan Belcher, 



424 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE;. ^7^9 

of Boston, when appointed in 1730 governor of Massachusetts 
and New Hampshire, removed Mr. Atkinson from the office of 
collector, and appointed Richard Wibird in his stead. He also 
displaced him as naval officer ; and Captain Ellis Huske suc- 
ceeded to the office. Mr. Atkinson was however continued as 
sheriff. Mr Atkinson married the daughter of Lieut. -Governor 
John Wentworth. 

Lieut. -Gov. John Temple, surveyor general of His Majesty's 
customs in the northern part of America, appointed Theodore 
Atkinson, jr., deputy collector of the customs at Piscataqua- 
James Nevin, a native of Scotland, a post captain in the British 
navy, and also one of His Majesty's Council, was collector of the 
customs for the port of Portsmouth, and was succeeded by John 
Hughes. Robert Hallowell succeeded him, remaining in Ports- 
mouth about one year, until 1772, when he was transferred to 
Boston. 

George Meservc, a native of Portsmouth, son of Colonel Nath- 
aniel Meserve, who rendered highly meritorious services at the 
first and second siege of Louisburg, as well as at Crown Point 
and Fort Edward, and died at Louisburg in 1758, was the agent 
for the distribution of stamps in New Hampshire. He was in 
England in 1765, when the Stamp Act passed. His commis- 
sion reached Portsmouth in 1766 ; but the Act was particularly 
obnoxious to the people of the Province, and the Sons of Liberty 
at Portsmouth were so active and positive in their opposition, 
tliat Mr. Meserve declined to qualify, not deeming it prudent to 
accept the trust. To compensate him for the disappointment 
and loss of the office, he was appointed comptroller of customs 
for the port of Boston ; but with the consent of the Crown, Mr. 
Hallowell, the collector at Portsmouth, exchanged offices witli 
him, and he returned to Portsmouth, where he was collector of 
the port in 1772. 

Robert Trail, who married Mary Whipple, the sister of Joseph, 
the collector of customs, and William Whipple, one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence, was at one time the 
comptroller of the port at Portsmouth — an office not continued 
under the present ni-r;anization of the government. 



j-Sq] state under first constitution. 425 

Eleazer Russell was naval officer, and virtually for a time the 
collector of the port. He was an unmarried man, very precise 
and careful. It is related of him that " when a vessel arrived 
and the papers were carried to the custom house, Mr. Russell 
would receive them with the tongs and submit them to a smok- 
ing before he examined them," being " always in great fear of 
small-pox or foreign epidemics." He was connected with the 
customs September 9, 1776, for he wrote on that day a letter of 
considerable length to Hon. Meshech Weare in relation to 
maritime fees charged and collected. May 23, 1783, he was 
instructed by President Weare to allow British vessels to 
enter the port, as the reasons for excluding them had ceased. 

Colonel Pierce Long was appointed by Washington collector 
in 1789, but died in April before entering upon the duties of the 
ofifice. Colonel Long was a successful merchant, an influential 
member of the Provincial Congress, and was particularly distin- 
guished for his military and civic services. 

Benjamin Franklin was appointed general deputy postmaster 
in 1753, and in the following year startled the people of the col- 
onies by giving notice that the mails for New England, which 
theretofore had left Philadelphia once a fortnight in winter, 
would start once a week throughout the year. In 1760 he pro- 
posed to run stage wagons between Philadelphia and Boston for 
the conveyance of the mail, one starting from each city on Mon- 
day morning, and reaching its destination by Saturday night. 

Franklin was removed from office by the British ministry in 

1774. The Continental Congress appointed a committee to de- 
vise a system of post-office communication, and on July 26, 

1775, a report was submitted, and the plan proposed was adopted, 
whereupon Dr. Franklin was appointed postmaster-general. 

Jeremiah Libbey was postmaster at Portsmouth in 1776. 

In 1790 the general post-office was located in New York city, 
at which time there were 1875 miles of post-roads established 
in the United States. Now the aggregate length of routes, in- 
cluding all classes of service, would probably reach over 350,000 
miles. In 1790 there were only seventy-five post-offices. Now 
there are over 50,000. The entire revenue from postages in 1790 



426 IIISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['/SQ 

was less than sixteen thousand dollars. Now it aggregates u\> 
wards of forty-two million dollars. 

In April, 1761, John Stavers, an Englishman by birth, and the 
proprietor of noted hosttlries in his day, commenced running a 
stage between Portsmouth and Boston. A curricle, or large 
stage chair, drawn by two horses and sufficiently wide to comfort- 
ably accommodate three persons, was the vehicle used, and is repre- 
sented to have been the first regularstage line established in Amer- 
ica. Thejourney was performed once a week. The conveyance 
started on Monday for Boston and returning arrived at Ports- 
mouth on Friday. An advertisement announcing the enterprise 
reads: " It willbc contrived to carry four persons beside the driv- 
er. In case only two persons go, they may be accommodated to 
carry things of bulk or value to make a third or fourth person." 
After one month's successful service, public notice was given 
"that five passengers would be carried," leaving Portsmouth on 
Tuesday, " and arrive back Saturday night." 

In May, 1763, " The Portsmouth Flying Stage Coach," with 
four or six horses according to the condition of the roads, started 
from the "Earl of Halifax" inn, kept by John Stavers, on 
Queen, now State street, near the easterly end, toward the Pis- 
cataqua river. The new " Earl of Halifax" hotel was first oc- 
cupied about 1770, and was a commodious three-storied wooden 
structure, situated on the corner of Pitt (changed to Court) and 
Atkinson streets, and is now occupied as a tenement house. The 
stable, a very large and spacious building which sheltered the 
horses belonging to the " Flying Stage Coach," as well as those of 
travellers, is on the corner of Atkinson and Jefferson streets, and in 
the rear of the public-house. The inns had been respectively 
named, first "Earl of Halifax," and afterward " William Pitt," 
and had furnished comfortable quarters for Washington, Lafay- 
ette, Hancock, Gerry, Knox, Sullivan, Rutledge, Louis Philippe, 
and many other illustrious personages. The driver attached to 
the " Flying Stage Coach" was Bartholomew Stavers, undoubt- 
edly the first regular stage driver north of Boston, if not in the 
country. 

One of the earliest mail pouches, if not the first in use on the 



428 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ ' 790 

route, and of not greater capacity than a common hand satchel, 
is preserved among the curiosities at the Portsmouth Athen- 
aeum. 

Eleazer Russell, a great-grandson of John Cutt, the first presi- 
dent of the Province, held several government positions. At one 
time he was naval ofificer of the port, and also the sole postmas- 
ter of the Province of New Hampshire, and was distinguished as 
the first postmaster in the State. All letters addressed to New 
Hampshire were deposited in his office, and remained there un- 
til sent for from other towns. Mr. Brewster, in his " Rambles " 
numbered forty-seven, gives quite an interesting account of this 
very precise and dignified public functionary, with " cock hat and 
wig, a light coat with full skirts, a long vest with pocket pads> 
light small clothes, with bright knee buckles, and more ponder- 
ous buckles on his shoes." For several years Portsmouth had 
the only post-ofifice in the Province of New Hampshire, and Elea- 
zer Russell filled most acceptably the office of postmaster as well 
as naval officer. His residence, which was the custom house 
as well as the first post-office, was located near the old ferry ways 
where the stone store now stands, opposite the intersection of 
Russell with Market street. 

In the Committee of Safety, at Exeter, July 27, 17S1, pursu- 
antto a vote of the General Assembly of June 27, 1781, author- 
izing the establishment of a post to ride from Portsmouth to the 
western part of New Hampshire, John Balch, of Keene, was ap- 
pointed post-rider for three months, at the compensation of sev- 
enty dollars in hard money for the entire service. The route 
was from Portsmouth via Concord and Plymouth to Haverhill ; 
thence down the Connecticut river through Charlestovvn and 
Keene to Portsmouth ; the trip to be performed in each and 
every fourteen days, the committee reserving the right to alter 
the route if the public good or convenience should require any 
change. 

Dr. Josiah Bartlctt, of Kingston, was elected president of the 
State in 1790, succeeding John Sullivan. Dr. Bartlett was very 
distinguished in the early annals of the State. He was born in 
Amesbury, Massachusetts, in November, 1727, studied medicine. 



1790] STATE UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION. 429 

settled 111 Kingston, and soon acquired a large practice by his 
skill in surgery, and in the study of the human frame. He was 
early noted for uprightness and decision of character. 

Governor John Wentworth gave him the command of a regiment of 
mill ia. 

In 1765 Dr Bartlett was first elected a representative from Kingston to the 
legislature, where he soon became distinguished, as a leader of the opposi- 
tion. 

In February, 1775, Dr. Bartlett received a letter notifying him that his 
name had been erased from the commission of the peace for the county of 
Kockingliam, and that he had been dismissed from his colonelcy in the 
militia. Other patriots were treated in the same way. 

In the summer of 1775 Dr. Bartlett was chosen a delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress, and he set out for Philadelphia in the following September. 

When Congress decided to take a vote on the subject of independence, they 
begun with the northernmost colony. New Hampshire. Dr. Bartlett's name 
was called first, and he voted in the affirmative. The other members were 
then appealed to in rotation until they came to Georgia, the southernmost 
colony. The president of Congress, John Hancock, was the first to sign the 
Declaration of Independence. Josiah Bartlett was the second who did so. 

In 17S0 he was appointed chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas. 

In 1782 he was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court, and he held that 
position until 17SS, when he was made chief justice of the Supreme Court. 

It does not appear that he had any special legal training for the bench, 
but few of the judges had in those days. But he had many of the requisites 
that generally go far towards the making of a sound justice, viz., honesty, 
good sense, and a large knowledge of books and men. In the somewhat un- 
settled state of the colonies, judges were not so much called upon to resolve 
line points of law as they are at the present time. 

Dr. Bartlett was elected president of the State in 1790, and also in 1791. 

When the new constitution went into eft'ect, in 1792, the title was changed 
to that of governor. Dr. Bartlett was elected governor in 1792 and in 1793, 
thus being the first governor of the State. 

In 1792 Governor Bartlett was one of the electors of president and vice- 
president. 

In 1794 he retired from the gubernatorial chair. He was also elected to 
the United States Senate, but could not accept because of poor health. He 
was a staunch Federalist in politics, an active member in, and president of, 
the New Hampshire Medical Society. 

He was a man of fine figure, being six feet in height, and of erect bearing. 
His face was thoughtful and expressive, and he had handsome blue eyes. 
He wore his auburn hair in a queue, and had a white stock at his throat, and 
ruffles on his wrists. He wore knee breeches, black silk stockings, and low 
shoes with silver buckles, the prevailing style for gentlemen at that time. He 
was affable, but dignified, in manner. In religion he was a Universalist. 



430 HISTOKV OF NEW )1A.MI>SHIKK. [l/QO 

In Kingston, at a little distance back from the large and well-kept green, 
on higher ground, stands the imposing, old-fashioned house built by Josiah 
Bartlett. White oak was the material chiefly used in its construction. On 
the other side of the common stands the village tavern. Just beyond the old 
hostelry lies that part of the hamlet which slowly but surely encroaches upon 
the busy portion. 

In one corner rest the remains of Josiah Bartlett. wlio died of paralysis 
May 19, 1795, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. A simple monument of cut 
granite marks the spot, a fitting covering for one of New Hampshire's most 
honored sons.' 

Josiah Bartlett commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Ordwav when 
only sixteen years of age. But prior to this he obtained a rudimentary 
knowledge of Latin and Greek. He soon exhausted Dr. Ordway's meager 
library, and subsequently other libraries in that section, among which was 
Rev. Dr. Webster's of Salisbury. After five years of study, Dr. Bartlett 
settled in Kingston in 1750, and commenced the practice of his profession. 

That fine discretionary judgment which ever characterized his public life 
■was early manifested in his methods of practice as a physician. He was a 
close and careful observer. Early in his professional career he discovered 
errors in the then accepted pathology and treatment of disease. Believing 
that his own life was saved in a severe fever by a quart of cider, which he 
persuaded his watchers to get in the night, against the explicit orders of his 
physician that drinks should not be administered, he ever after discontinued 
the barbarous practice which allowed patients burning with a fever to die of 
thirst. 

That terrible scourge now known as diphtheria appeared in this country for 
the first time at Kingston, with fearful fatality. The orthodox method of 
treatment for the disease was by bleeding, emetics, depressing drugs and 
starvation — under the belief that the malady was inflammatory in its charac- 
ter. Dr. Bartlett again saw error in this conception of the pathology of the 
disease, and with a boldness that always followed his convictions, inaugurated 
a method of treatment diametrically opposite to the one endorsed by the pro- 
fession. He resorted to tonics and antiseptics, with a sustaining diet, and 
met with a degree of success that had not before characterized the treatment 
of the " throat distemper." 

These incidents in his professional life almost constitute marking stones 
in the progress of medicine in this country. Indeed, Belknap and other 
historians have made a record of his marked success in the treatment of the 
malignant "throat distemper." 

The mantle of distinction was first placed upon him while a tireless and 
conscientious worker in the ranks of the medical profession. The historv 
of his unparalleled career indicates that he possessed a fixity of purpose — that 
of fidelity to present duty — in whatever capacity in life the course of events 
placed him. This quality was first manifested in the laborious routine of 
medical practice ; and its appreciation by the loyal citizens of the Province, 

■ Kev. IXmiel Rollins. 



1790] STATE UNOEK FIKST CONSTITUTION'. 43/. 

(Coupled with his recognized ability, led liim .step by step into nearly every 
official position within their gift. 

Prior to 1791 no medical society or organization existed in the State. 
During that year Dr. Bartlett, then president of New Hampshire, with eigh- 
teen associated, all physicians of eminence and ability, obtained a charter for 
the New Hampshire Medical Society. The document shows the handiwork 
of his master mind and his recognition of the importance of education to 
the physician. In proof of this reads the second preamble, which occurs 
near the middle of the enacting sections of the charter : — 

■• And whereas it is clearly of importance that a just discrimination shoulc? 
be made between such as are duly educated and properly qualified for tlie 
duties of their profession, and those who may ignorantly and wickedly admin- 
ister medicine whereby the health and lives of many valuable individuals 
ma^- be endangered, or perhaps lost to the community. Be it therefore fur- 
ther enacted,"' etc. 

This admirable charter was signed by "Josiah Bartlett, president," on 
February 16, 1791. By its provision he was to call the first meeting of the 
society, which he did on the 4th day of May following, at E.xeter. The manu- 
script records of that meeting say : "Present — His Excellency Josiah Bart- 
lett, Esq., Joshua Brackett, Hall Jackson, Nathaniel Peabody, John Rogers, 
Ebenezer Rockwood, William Cogswell, William Parker, jr., Benjamin Page, 
and Isaac Thom, members." One will recognize these names as men of 
eminence in the earlier history of New Hampshire, whom Josiah Bartlett 
chose and received as associates in the profession. 

Dr. Bartlett was elected president of the New Hampshire Medical Society 
at its first meeting, and held the office for two years and then declined a re- 
election. The society passed resolutions thanking him for his inestimable 
services, to which he replied with the following letter : — 

■ Gentlemen of the New Hampshire Medical Society: — 
''The unexpected resolve of thanks presented me by your committee, for 
the small services I have been able to afford the Medical Society, I consider 
as an instance of the polite attention and regard they mean to pay to such 
persons as may in any manner endeavor to promote the public happiness. 

" I have long wished that the practice of medicine in the State (upon which 
the lives and healths of our fellow citizens depend) might be put under better 
regulations than it has been in times past, and have reason to hope that the 
incorporation of the New Hampshire Medical Society (if properly attended 
to by the fellows) will produce effects greatly beneficial to the community by 
encouraging genms and learning in the medical sciences and discouraging 
ignorant and bold pretenders from practising an art of which they have no 
knowledge. 

''That the members of the society maybe useful to themselves and the public, 
and enjoy the exalted pleasure of satisfaction that arises from a conscious- 
ness that they have contributed to the health and happiness, not only of their 
patients, but, by communicating to others the knowledge and cure of disease, 



432 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['790 

to the general happiness of the hmiian race, is tlie ardent wisii. Gentlemen, 
of your very humble servant, 'Josi.vii Bartlett. 

" Concord, N. H., June 19th, 179.V" 
This letter was his last communication to the New Hampshire Medical 
Society. He founded it, drew its charter, shaped its by-laws and regulations, 
and saw it properly organized upon a basis that guaranteed its perpetuity, 
before his lamp went out.' 

At the June session of the legislature, 1790, Wilham Plumcr 
objected to John S. Sherburne's taking his seat as a member, 
on the ground that he was a pensioner of the United States, and 
held the office of district attorney under the general govern- 
ment. During the discussion Sherburne shed tears, which 
so influenced the members that he was allowed to retain his 
seat. He had been a preacher and had become a lawyer, and had 
lost his leg while in the army. He was a man of talents, gentle- 
manly in his manners and insinuating in his address. He was 
afterwards elected to Congress, and held for many years the office 
of district judge. The State constitution, established three years 
later, settled the question thus raised by excluding from both 
branches all persons holding any office under the United States.^ 

The attempt to impeach Judge Woodbury Langdon occu- 
pied considerable of the time of this and the ne.xt legis- 
lature. After many delays the impeachment was finally dropped, 
the judge having resigned his seat on the bench and accepted 
an office under the United States. Many believed that the 
impeachment proceedings arose from private pique and personal 
interest. Jeremiah Smith, a rising young lawyer, this being his 
third term, conducted the impeachment for the House. 

The legislature, which prided itself very little on its patronage 
of literature, appropriated ^50 towards the expenses of Rev. Dr. 
Jeremy Belknap's " History of New Hampshire." 

The attempt to lay a direct State tax warmly recommended by 
the treasurer was defeated after a severe struggle by a single 
vote. The argument used against the motion was that the trea- 
surer used the funds of the State for his private emolument ; 
while the friends of the measure claimed that the public had no 
concern in the matter, except to see that his bondsmen were 
good. 



1790] STATE UNDER FIKST CONSTITUTION. 433 

His course on this measure alienated William Plumer from the 
leading Exeter politicians, while agreeing with them in general 
politics, and made him ultimately a centre of anti-Exeter 
influence. 1 

Exeter was for many years the political capital of the State. 
John Taylor Gilman, Nicholas Oilman, Nathaniel Gilman, Oli- 
ver Peabody, Samuel Tenney, Benjamin Abbott, George Sulli- 
van, Benjamin Conner, who though less known was a great party 
manager, and, later, Jeremiah Smith, possessed an aggregate of 
talents and information, and a weight of character and influence, 
which could be equalled in no other part of the State. ■' 

So little was the general interest felt in politics at this time 
that only one in seventeen of the inhabitants of the State took 
the trouble to vote. 

^The land which now comprises the town of Bartlett was granted 
by Governor Wentworth to several persons, among whom were 
William Stark and Vera Royce, for services rendered in Canada 
during the French and Indian war. Captain Stark divided his 
share into lots, giving large tracts to persons who would settle 
them. Two brothers by the name of Emery, and a Harriman, 
were the first permanent settlers. Settlements had been begun 
during this time in most of the locations in the vicinity of the 
mountains. In 1777, but a few years succeeding the Emerys, 
Daniel Fox, Paul Jilly, and Samuel Willey, from Lee, made a 
settlement in what is known as Upper Bartlett, north of those 
already located. They commenced their settlement with mis- 
fortune as well as hardship. Their horses, dissatisfied with the 
grazing along the Saco, started for their former home in Lee. 

Hon. John Pendexter removed to the town from Portsmouth 
at an early period of its history, settling in the southern part 
near the Conway line. Here he resided the remainder of his 
life, dying at the advanced age of eighty-three years. He and 
his wife came a distance of eighty miles in midwinter, she riding 
ujjon an old, feeble horse, with a feather-bed under her, and an 
infant child in her arms, he by her side, hauling their household 
furniture upon a hand-sled. Nor was it a well-prepared home to 

■ William Piume , Jr. = E. A. Philbrick. 



434 



HISTOKV OF NEW IlAMrsiIIKE. 



1790 



whicli they came, — a warm house and well-cultivated lands, — 
but a forest and a rude log- cabin. 

The town was incorporated in June, 1790, autl named in honor 
of Governor ]5artlett. 




GIANT STAIRS, BARTLETT. 

^Cardigan lifts its silvery head thirty-one hundred feet above 
the sea level. At its base stood the dwelling-house and farm- 
buildings of Colonel Elisha Payne, lie was horn in 1731, and 
reared in the State of Connecticut, and probably graduated at 



1790] STATE UNDER FIRST CON'SIITUTION. 435 

Vale College. The township of Cardigan was granted in February, 
1769. The grantees were Elisha Payne, Isaac Fellows, and 
ninety-nine others. The first settlements in the township were 
made in 1773, by Payne, Silas Harris, Benjamin Shaw, David 
P^ames, and Captain Joseph Kenney. Payne at this time was 
forty-two years of age. The town was incorporated by the name 
of Orange, in June, 1790. Payne went back into the dense wil- 
derness, far beyond the reach of any human habitation, and se- 
lected a swell of good, strong land for his farm, near the base of 
the mountain. 

Payne was a trustee of Dartmouth College from 1784 to 1801, 
and was its treasurer in 1779 and 1780. His connection with 
tiie college explains the fact, that when the small-pox broke out 
at Dartmouth, subsequent to 1780, the afflicted students were 
carried to this remote and lonely mountain-seat for treatment. 
Payne had removed to East Lebanon, and settled on the shore 
of Mascoma Lake, before this occurrence. Several of the stu- 
dents died and wei"e buried, but no stone marks the place of 
their peaceful rest. The Payne house, from tliis time forward, 
was called the Pest House, and was used as such, at a later day, 
by the authorities of Orange. 

Payne had a son, Elisha Payne, jr., who graduated at Dart- 
mouth, and who was a man of character and ability. He was 
the first lawyer to open an office in Lebanon. This office was 
at East Lebanon, which was then the chief village in that town. 
He served in both branches of the legislature of this State, but 
died at the early age of about forty-five. 

Elisha Payne, senior, was a man of strong mind and great 
decision of character. He was the leader, on the east side of 
the Connecticut river, in the scheme to dismember New Hamp- 
shire and annex a tract, some twenty miles in width, to Vermont. 
In July, 1778, he was chosen, under the statutes of Vermont, a 
justice of the peace for the town of Cardigan, in a local town- 
meeting held that day. He was a member of the " Cornish 
Convention" of 1778, and of the " Charlestown Convention" 
in 1 78 1. He was representative from Cardigan in the Vermont 
legislature, under the first union, in 1778, and was representative 



436 JUSTOKY OF XKW HAMPSHIRE. ['790 

from Lebanon, under the second union, in April, 1781. In Oc- 
tober of the same year he was chosen lieutenant-governor of 
Vermont, by the legislature of that State, then in session at 
Charlestown, New Hampshire. In this legislature, fifty-seven 
towns west of the Connecticut and forty-five towns on the New 
Hampshire side of that river were represented. 

When the bitter and prolonged strife between the two juris- 
dictions, New Hampshire and Vermont, was nearing the crisis, 
and Bingham and Gandy of Chesterfield had been arrested by 
Vermont officials for resisting the authority of that State, and 
thrown into jail at Charlestown, and Colonel Enoch Hale, the 
sheriff of Cheshire county, had proceeded under orders from the 
president and Council of New Hampshire to release them, and 
had been seized and summarily committed to the same jail, and 
the militia of New Hampshire had been put on a war footing to 
rescue Hale and the other prisoners at Charlestown, Governor 
Chittenden of Vermont commissioned Elisha Payne of Leba- 
non, the lieutenant-governor, as brigadier-general, and appointed 
him to take command of the militia of that State, to call to his 
aid Generals Fletcher and Olcott, and such of the field officers 
on the east side of the Green Mountains as he thought proper, 
and to be prepared to oppose force to force. But bloodshed was 
happily averted. The Continental Congress took hostile ground 
against the scheme to dismember New Hampshire, and General 
Washington put his foot upon it. In this dilemma the authori- 
ties of Vermont, for the sake of self-preservation, relinquished 
their claim to any part of New Hampshire, and in February, 
1782, the second union between the disaffected towns on the 
west side of this State and Vermont came to an end. 

In addition to the offices already named, Payne held that of 
chief justice of the Supreme Court of his cherished State, Ver- 
mont, a State then stretching from the head-waters of the Pemi- 
gewasset to Lake Champlain. 

After a life of adventure, of strange vicissitude, of startling- 
success and crushing defeat, Elisha Payne quietly fell asleep in 
East Lebanon, at the age of seventy-six years. He was buried 
in the impretending cemetery near his place of residence in that 



I791] STATE UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION. 437 

village. His wife, a number of his children, and other member.s 
of the family, in all seven persons, were iniirned in the same 
cemetery lot ; but about a quarter of a century ago, in the late 
fall, there came a fearful storm, and the gentle brook whose 
course lies along the border of this receptacle for the dead sud- 
denly became a rushing torrent, and, breaking from its channel, 
swept in among the quiet sleepers and carried away most that 
remained of the Payne family. Winter closed in, but the next 
spring such bones as had not found a lodgment at the bottonv 
of Mascoma Lake, as it is usually called, were gathered up, all 
put into one box and redeposited in the earth in another part of 
the cemetery, whereon has been erected, by family relatives, a 
substantial and appropriate monument. And so ends the story 
of a life of stern conflict and romantic incident. 

The winter session of 1791 was devoted chiefly to a revision 
of the statutes, with a view to anew edition of the laws. Among 
the bills introduced was one for the punishment of blasphemy. 
The committee reported the old law, in substance, but Mr. 
Welman, who had been a preacher, moved as an amendment 
that any person " convicted of speaking disrespectfully of any 
part of the Bible should have his tongue bored through with a 
hot iron." Sherburne seconded this motion in a vehement speech, 
declaring that he should be better pleased with death as the pen- 
alty for so atrocious an offence. As Sherburne was thought to 
be an unbeliever, and was free in his remarks on Scripture and 
his ridicule of the clergy, his address was thought an effort to 
bring out Plumer on the unpopular side. Fearing the amend- 
ment would pass Mr. Plumer did speak against it in his eloquent 
and impressive style, and did succeed in defeating it, though not 
by a large majority. "Whipping, branding and other mutilations 
of the body were punishments then inflicted by the penal codes 
of most of the States, and the zeal of a Christian community saw 
nothing revolting in their application to the support of religious 
truth. " 1 

It was during the preceding session that Mr. Phinier, who was 
a popular leader in the House, introduced a bill to tax State notcs^ 

■ Wiliim Pliner, Jr. 



438 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [>79' 

a measure combated by the lixeter party, who were largely inter- 
ested. 

" Your JTifluence, " said one of them to him, "may carry the 
bill through an ignorant House, as you can carry anything else 
there, but it will be rejected by the Senate. " " We shall see," 
was the quiet reply. The bill passed the House and was sent to 
the Senate, but was lost. It passed the House a second time, 
was enacted by the Senate, and became a law. A member of 
the House, not from Exeter, aftei-wards boasted that he had 
pocketed the first bill. 

At the November session of the legislature at Portsmouth 
the most important business was the incorporation of a bank. 
The Bank of the United States had recently been established, 
and there were only three State banks in the country, — one in 
Boston, one in New York, and one in Philadelphia. 

At this time the legislature was in the practice of frequently 
interfering with the business of the courts, by granting new trials 
and prescribing special rules for the trial of a particular action. 
A ludicrous instance of the exercise of this sovereign power 
occurred in the western part of the State, in a case involving the 
ownership of two pigs. The legislature passed an Act to set 
aside the finding of the court, but the justice, an old soldier of 
the Revolution, convinced by the arguments of Jeremiah Mason 
that the legislature had no right to interfere with his ruling, 
would not grant a new trial ; and the pig action gained extensive 
notoriety and tended to bring such special Acts of the legisla- 
ture into ridicule and deserved contempt.^ 

A convention having been called to revise the constitution of 
the State, the elections took place in August, and the conven- 
tion met early in September, 1791. The importance of the 
object drew together many of the ablest men of the State. The 
discussion, not of laws merely, but of constitutional provisions, 
and the fundamental principles of government, gave to the de- 
bates an interest not often felt in legislative proceedings. The 
debates, though long and able, were never published, and the 
journal of the convention furnishes but an imperfect account of 

I Jeremiah Mason. 



1791] STATE UNDKR FIRST CDNSTITUIIOX. 439 

what was clone, and still less by whom it was clone. Even the 
3'eas and nays are only given in two or three cases. From the 
" Life of William Plumer," a member of the convention, one can 
obtain some account of the proceedings of the body. Among the 
Jiiembers were John Pickering, Edward St. Loe Livermore, Dr. 
Samuel Tenney, James MacGregore, Moses Leavitt, Christopher 
Toppan, Nathaniel Rogers, General Joseph Cilley, John McClary, 
Abial Foster, Timothy Walker, Colonel Nathaniel Head, John 
Calfe, Dr. Nathaniel Peabody, John Waldron, Ebenezer Thomp- 
.son, Thomas Cogswell, Ebenezer Smith, Zachariah Chandler, 
Joshua Atherton, Jeremiah Smith, Major Benjamin Pierce, Major 
Caleb Stark, Rev. Jonathan Searls, Daniel Newcomb, John 
Duncan, Samuel Livermore, Elisha Payne, Captain Nathaniel 
White, Moses Chase, Nahum Parker, Timothy Tilton, and others, 
— strong men, having the future best interests of the State con- 
stantly in mind. 

1 The old constitution was taken up by sections, and its provi- 
sions altered or amended, and new clauses added, or old ones 
stricken out, at the will of the convention, till the whole had been 
revised. This occupied the first ten days of the session. William 
Plumer and Jeremiah Smith were the most conspicuous members 
of the convention. The former was then a young man, just com- 
ing into notice, having been admitted to the practice of law only 
four years before, yet there was no one who took so active apart 
or who had greater influence in that body. By his industry and 
perseverance, his energy and decision, and, above all, by the force 
and accuracy of his discriminating mind, he acquired, before the 
close of the convention, a weight and authority in that body which 
no other man possessed. " He was," said Judge Livermore, "by 
all odds the most influential man in the convention ; so much so 
that those who disliked the result called it Plumer's constitution, 
by way of insinuating that it was the work of one man, and not 
the collective wisdom of the whole assembly." The manuscript 
volume in the State House which relates to the convention is 
mainly in the handwriting of Mr. Plumer and Mr. Smith. Both 
of these men were at this time comparatively young, ambitious 



440 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['791 

ot distinction, liard workers, prompt in action, and ready and wil- 
ling alike with the tongue and the pen. They concurred for the 
most part in their general views of policy, though occasionally 
differing on questions of minor importance. But in concert or 
opposition it was hard to say whether, aside from the strength of 
their arguments, the House most admired the broad humor, the 
Scotch-Irish drollery and shrewdness of Smith, or the keen re- 
tort, the ready resources, and strong practical common sense of 
Plumer. Smith being at that time a member of Congress was 
present only during the first session of ten days. Plumer was 
present to the end and busy from the first. They were at this 
time friends, although, placed ultimately at the head of opposite 
parties in the State, their friendship was not destined to survive. 
Their respect for each other was probably lifelong. The sub- 
jects in which Mr. Plumer took the strongest interest were the 
provisions on the subject of religion, the organization of the exec- 
utive department, the judiciary, and the basis of representation 
in the House. Mr. Plumer took the broadest view of religiou.s. 
tolerance : his opponents would have subjected all the inhabi- 
tants of the State to a town tax for the support of the clergy- 
man whom the majority of the voters should select as their pas- 
tor. Neither party prevailed, and the provision of the 1784 
constitution remained in force. His motion to abolish the reli- 
gious test for office holders, who were required by the consti- 
tution to be " of the Protestant religion," though at first rejected, 
was finally adopted by the convention. It was not accepted by 
the people at that time nor subsequently in 1850, although it 
remained a dead letter for very many years before it was finally 
stricken from the constitution in 1876. Mr. Plumcr's idea was 
to divide the State into sixty representative districts, nearly 
equal as to population, but this was rejected by a strong 
majority. The smaller towns, miniature republics, refused to sur- 
render their ancient privileges of representation in the legislative 
assemblies. Mr. Plumer advocated the separation of the execu- 
tive from the legislative department and the power of veto, and 
would have made a plurality of votes alone necessary for a 
choice by the people of senators, so that the Senate should not 



1792] STATE UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION. 44I 

(.lepeiul upon lIio House for tlie election of any of its members. 
The plan for organizing- the judiciary department to secure a more 
speedy and less expensive administration of justice, and to reform 
"its expense, its injustice, its delays," by lessening the number 
of courts and increasing their power, and for extending the jur- 
isdiction of justices of the peace to sums not exceeding four 
pounds, was rejected by the people, except as to extending the 
jurisdiction of justices of the peace. The convention appointed 
a committee to reduce the amendments to form, and another 
committee to take the whole subject into consideration and re- 
port at a future meeting the amendments proper to be submitted 
to the people.^ 

The convention then adjourned to meet in February, 1792. 
The committee of ten, two from each county, met frequently. 
Peabody, who was chairman, was disposed to perplex and em- 
barrass, rather than aid, the business. Atherton acted almost 
uniformly with Peabody. Freeman was opposed to all amend- 
ments. The infirmities of age made Payne inactive. Page 
was able and well disposed, but indolent and inattentive. The 
chief labor and responsibility fell on Plumer.' The other mem- 
bers of the committee gave him little trouble and no assistance. 
He had to control perverseness and rouse indolence, both very 
laborious and perplexing. By perseverance he surmounted 
every obstacle thrown in his way. The committee agreed upon 
amendments which Mr. Plumer reduced to form, and transcribing 
the whole constitution, introduced them into their proper places. 
On the meeting of the convention, in 1792, the report of the 
committee was assailed from various quarters, but Page and 
Atherton joined Plumer in its defence, and succeeded after long 
debates, continuing for two weeks, in carrying it through, al- 
though not without some important modifications. The con- 
vention then adjourned, to meet again in May to receive the 
answer of the people. On coming together again a committee 
was appointed to ascertain what amendments had been adopted 
and what rejected, and to harmonize the old and new constitu- 
tions. This being done the subject was again submitted to the 

' William Plumer, Jr. 



442 lUSTOKV o|- Ni:\V IIAMI'SIIIRE. ['79- 

peojale ; and the labors 'if the convention vvei'c closed h)- an- 
other short session in September. The constitution thus 
formed remained in force without alteration until 1876, nor was 
there any attempt at change for nearly half a century. Of this 
convention Governor Plumer was the last survivor when the 
convention of !<S50 met, and he did not live to see it close.' 

One clause in tiie constitution of New Hampshire Governor 
Plumer always claimed the credit of inserting: "No member 
of the General Court shall take fees, be of counsel, or act as 
advocate in any cause before either branch of the legislature: and 
upon due proof thereof such member shall forfeit his seat in the 
legislature." - 

■^The first singing ol" whicii we have any record was inainlv congregational, 
without instrumental accompaniment, and identical with that style which 
prevailed in the early New England church. It was led by a precentor, who 
read two lines of the hymn to be sung at a time, then announced the tune, 
gave the key on the pitch-pipe, and, standing usually in front of the pulpit, 
beat the time and sang with the congregation. Moreover, the precentor wa& 
usually a deacon, hence the term " deaconing the hymn ; " and from the early 
period to the present day many of the deacons have been prominent singers. 
The names of the tunes used in the early period are very curious. Most of 
them are named from places, and New Hampshire is well represented in 
"Alstead," ••Bristol," "Concord," ■' Dunbarton." " E,\eter,'' "Epsom," 
"Pembroke," -'Portsmouth," "Lebanon," and " Loudon;" some for States, 
as " Vermont," " New York," " Pennsylvania, " and " Virginia; "some for the 
saints, as " St. Martin's," " St, Ann's," " All Saints ; " some for countries, as 
" Africa," " Russia," " Denmark ; " a very few for persons, as " Lena ; " and we 
find one, which was probably not used in church, entitled, '"An Elegy on 
Sophronia, who died of small-pox in 1711." consisting of twelve stanzas set to 
a. most doleful melody. 

Tradition has it that the first hymn ever sung in Concord was the lo.^rd, 
Book I, Watts's Psalms and Hymns, " Pm not ashamed to own my Lord." 

This method was pursued for some time, but at length it is recorded in Dr. 
Bou ton's" History of Concord," that " Mr. John Kimball, subsequently deacon, 
being one of the singers, proposed to Rev. Mr. Walker to dispense with the 
lining of the hymn, as it was called; but as Mr. Walker thought it not pru- 
dent to attempt it first on the Sabbath, it was arranged between them to make 
the change on Thanksgiving day. Accordingly, after the hymn had been 
given out, the leader, as usual, read two lines, the singers struck in, but 
instead of stopping at the end of the two lines, kept on, drowning the voice 
of the leader, who persisted in his vocation of lining the hymn." 

Although some singers sat in the front seats in the neighborhood of the 

' William Hliimer, Jr. - Sec. 7, Part Second, Constitution of New Hampsliire. 

3 llr. W. (■.. (.:.irter. 



1/9-] STAUl-. UNDKK FIRST CONSTITUTION. 443 

leader, still inaiiy more were scattered tliroughoiit the congregation, and 
gradually it became apparent that the singing could be made more effective by 
collecting the " men and women singers" together in a more compact body, 
and accordingly the choir was formed, which was under the direction of a 
choir-master. " When the meeting-house was finished in 17S4 it was fitted 
with a singers' pew in the gallery opposite the pulpit. This was a large 
square pew, with a box or table in the middle for the singers to lay their 
books on. In singing they rose and faced each other, forming a hollow- 
square. When the addition was made to the meeting-house in 1S02, the old 
singers' pew was taken away, but seats were assigned thoni in tlie same rela- 
tive position opposite the pulpit." 

The first instrument in use was the pitch-pipe, which was made of wood, 
'• an inch or more wide, somewhat in the form of a boy's whistle, but so con- 
structed as to admit of different keys." This was simply used to give the 
correct key, and was not played during the singing. Under the ministry of 
Rev. Mr. Evans, who was himself very fond of music, some instruments were 
introduced, which innovation was attended with so much opposition that, 
according to tradition, some persons left the meeting-house rather than 
hear the profane sound of tlie " fiddle and fiute." We find, then, at the begin- 
ning of the second century of the existence of the church, the service of 
praise was sustained by a large choir, accompanied by wind and string instru- 
ments, usually a violin, flute, clarinet, bass viol, and double bass, the two lat- 
ter being the property of the society. 

The choir consisted of thirty persons of both sexes, under the direction o» 
a chorister, who was usually a tenor singer. This leader was the only indi- 
vidual who received compensation, and it was stipulated in his engagement 
that he should teach a singing-school, which any person in the societv could 
attend for improvement in singing. The singing-school was usually held 
in the court-house, sometimes in the bank building, was promptly attended, 
and its weekly ineeting an occasion which was eagerly looked foward to by 
the young people, especially for its social as well as musical advantages. 
Frequently the rehearsals of the choir were held at the various houses of the 
singers, and were most enjoyable occasions. Concerts, or musical entertain- 
ments, were of rare occurrence, consequently the weekly rehearsal, combining- 
so much of recreation with musical instruction, was attended with an interest 
and promptness unknown to the " volunteer choir " of the present day. On 
the Sabbath they promptly appeared, bringing with them their music-books, 
many of them their luncheon, and in cold weather their foot-stoves, making 
themselves as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. Doubtless 
the singers and players of to-day can appreciate the difficulty of keeping 
the pitch, and handling the bow, and fingering the strings and keys, at a tem- 
perature frequently below freezing. 

The interest in church music continued unabated during the later years of 
occupancy of the old North Church, and when the new church was occupied 
in 1S4J, the choir filled the greater part of the gallery, which was finished for 
their accommodation. To this church then came the choir, bringing with 
them the ancient viols, soon to be sacrificed at the shrine of tlie new organ. 



CHAPTER Xlll. 

STATE GO VERNMENT— 1 792- 1 8 1 2. 

|oHN Taylor Gilman — Walpole — Mr. West — Milford — Turnpikes — 
Portsmouth — Methodists — Centre Harbor — Tithing Men — 
Death of Washington — Second New Hampshire Turnpike — B.\nks 

— Laws — Judge Smith — Middlesex Canal — Judge Pickering — 
Federal Judges— Fourth New Hampshire Turnpike — Republicans 

— Post-Offices — Daniel Webster — Burnham — Navigation on the 
Merrimack — Embargo — Patriots — Governor Jeremiah Smith — 
Crow Bill^ — William Plumer. 

"T^HE new State constitution went into operation in June, i>92, 
during" the administration of President Josiah Bartlett, who 
was the first to assume the title of governor of the State of New 
Hampshire. During the preceding year the New Hampshire 
Medical Society had been organized, of which he was elected 
first president. The first bank in the State was established at 
Portsmouth in 1792, with a capital of g 160,000, a year memora- 
ble for the advent of Elder Jesse Lee, who introduced Metho- 
dism into the State. A newspaper had been established in 
Concord by George Hough as early as 1790. 

John Taylor Gilman was elected governor in 1794. He be- 
longed to a noted and wealthy family of Exeter. 

'Through all the colonial period they were a notable and influential race. 
Members of the family held civil office from the time our colony became a 
royal Province up to within the memory of men now living. Edward Gil- 
man, the ancestor of all the Gilmans of this .State, came into New Hampshire 
soon after its first settlement, and among his descendants have been men in 
every generation who have done honor to their country, and whom this 
country has delighted to honor. Hon. John Gilman, the son of the preced- 
ing, was one of the councillors named in President Cutts' commission in 
' Fred Myron Colby. 



1794] STATE GOVERNMENT. 445 

1679. He died in 170S. His son, Capt. Nicholas Gilman, was an officer of 
skill and decision during the Indian %vars of Queen Anne's reign, was a 
friend of Col. Winthrop Hilton, and had command of a detachment that 
marched against the savages to revenge the death of that lamented officer in 
1710. Hon. Peter Gilman was a rojal councillor under John Wentworth, 
and was the first to fill the office of brigadier-general in New Hampshire. 
Col. Daniel Gilman was one of the commissioners from New Hampshire, 
stationed at Albany, in 175G, to take care of the provisions furnished hy the 
Province for our troops quartered at Ticonderoga. He was also the colonel 
■of the 4th New Hampshire regiment of militia for many years. He was 
a grantee of the town of Gilmanton, and two of his sons settled there. 

Nicholas Gilman, his oldest son, was born October 21, 1731. The greater 
part of his life was passed at E.xeter. He inherited his father's patrician rank, 
and early became a man of influence in his native village. In 1752 he pur- 
■chased of William Ladd, Esq., the large mansion-house that had been built 
by Nathaniel, and moved into it with the wife he had recently married. Miss 
Ann, daughter of Rev. John Taylor of Milton, a descendant of one of the 
Pilgrim fathers. The new mistress of the Gilman house, as it was thereafter 
termed, was a woman of large culture, strong mind, and great beauty of per- 
son. Her first child, who was born just a year after her marriage lacking 
two days, was named for her father, a patronymic that was famous in New 
Hampshire in after years. The early years of marriage were somewhat 
■disturbed by the rumors of war, that blew fateful and threatening from the 
frontiers, and his second son, who bore his own name, was an infant of 
scarcely two months when Nicholas Gilman marched, as lieutenant, under 
his uncle Peter, to join in the operations around Lake George in 1755. 

Prior to the Revolution he held many important civil and military appoint- 
ments under the government of the Wentworths. Between him and the last 
royal governor, the cultivated and enterprising Sir John, there was a strong 
personal friendship. When the storm of the Revolution came, he threw all 
<jf his influence into the patriot cause; but this did not antagonize him with 
the governor, who declared that, when the rebellion should be put down. Col. 
Gilman should be spared all punishment. No other man shared his friend- 
ship to such a degree, save Major Benjamin Thompson, who was afterward 
Count Rumlord. 

Nicholas Gilman was one of the great men of New Hampshire during the 
Revolutionary period. He had wealth, large ability, and a great name, and 
he threw them all into the scale for the patriot cause. Nor did he shirk the 
toils incumbent on the patriot of '76. He won, it is true, no glory in the field 
of carnage. His was not the genius of a man of war, but that of a man of 
peace. He was needed at home, and the services of Meshech Weare himself 
could have been better dispensed with than those of Col. Gilman. From 
•775 to '7S.2 he was treasurer of the State of New Hampshire. Besides this, 
he was Continental loan officer, one of the chief members of the Committee of 
Safetv, and councillor of the State from 1777 to the day of his death. His re- 
lation, therefore, to the financial affaiis of New Hampshire resembled much 



446 HISTORY OF XKW HAMPSHIKE. [1/94 

that of Robert Morris to those of the nation. He was an active and accom- 
plished man of business, and liis prudence and skill in finance were remark- 
able. New Hampshire had no abler servant in the field, at home or abroad, 
than Col. Gilnian ; and perhaps it is not sa^'ing too inuch to state that he 
furnished a fourth part of the brains of New Hampshire in the Revolution, 
the other members of the quartette being Meshech Weare, Samuel Livermore, 
and Josiah Bartlett. Moreover, his own personal strength and the influence 
of his able sons and numerous friends furnished a firm support to the patriot 
cause in the eastern part of the .State, which, if such powerful influence had 
been lacking, would probablv have been overawed b\- the authority of the 
crown. 

Col. Gilman survived the treaty of peace but a siioi't time. He tlied in the 
prime of life, April 7, 17S3. His wife preceded him to the grave by a few 
days, dying March 17, 17S3. Their tombs are still visible in the old ceme- 
tery of Exeter. They were the parents of three sons, John Taylor, Nicholas, 
and Nathaniel Gilman, all prominent men o£ New Hampshire in their day. 

The Gilman mansion was built somewhere near the year 1740, and is there- 
fore of an age contemporary with the Mount Vernon mansion, the Walker 
house at Concord, and the Sparhawk mansion at Kittery. It is only a few 
years older than the Gov. Wentworth house at Little Harbor, and but a year 
or two younger than the Meshech Weare house at Hampton Falls. It is a 
good specimen of the domestic style which prevailed in the colonies before 
the Revolution. Built of brick covered with wood, three stories in height, 
with dormer windows in its upper story, gambrel-roofed, and its walls a yel- 
low dun color, its air of antiquity is unmistakable, and at the same time it 
pleases the eye with its varied charms. It stands well in from the street, with 
a yard and shrubbery in front. 

The mansion occupied by this distinguished worthy from the time of his 
marriage to that of his death is still standing on Water street. It occupies a 
slight eminence, overlooking the street and the river, with the front facing 
the south-east. The old house has been kept in pretty good repair, and has 
never been altered nor in any way modernized. It stands out alone in the 
landscape, with an air of venerable dignity, its huge chimneys rising above 
the tall trees, and its windows looking down upon the street and over the 
water, where many a time they must have seen pageants and sights worth 
looking upon. In its one hundred and fifty years of life it must have seen 
much that was interesting in the history of Exeter. 

After the death of Nicholas Gilman, the old house became the property of 
his oldest son, John Taylor Gilman, who resided in it until his marriage with 
his third wife. John Taylor was the most prominent of the three brothers. 
He was born December 19, 1753. His early education was scant, being no 
more than what the common schools of Exeter afforded at that time. At an 
early age he became interested in shipbuilding, an industry that was then 
actively engaged in by many of the citizens of Exeter. The elder Gilman 
was a wealthy and enterprising man, owner of a large estate and a store. In 
connection with navigation, young Gilman now and then busied himself with 
agriculture and trade. 



1794] statf: covEKNMr.NT. 447 

One of the schoolmates of John Taylor Oilman was Miss Deborah Folsom. 
She was the daughter of Gen. Nathaniel Folsom, the rival of Gen. Stark, and 
a famous Revolutionary worthy. Born the same year that Oilman was, Miss 
Folsom was, during the few years prior to the Revolution, the reputed belle 
of Exeter. The two families were intimate, John Taylor soon became an 
announced suitor, and a few months before that affair at Concord Bridge, 
••Where the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the 
world," they were married. When the Revolution broke out, John Taylor 
Oilman was only twenty-two years old. 

On the morning of April 20, 1775, at daybreak, the news arrived at Exeter 
of the battle at Concord. With all the alacrity and ardor of a youthful 
patriot, the young husband gathered a company and marched tor Cambridge, 
which place he reached at noon of the next day. Mr. Oilman, however, did 
little military service. He was needed at home. He acted as commissary in 
supplying the three regiments of the State at Cambridge. In 1779 he was 
elected a member of the New Hampshire legislature, and subsequently served 
upon the Committee of Safetj'. In 1780 he was the sole delegate from New 
Hampshire to attend the convention at Hartford. He was absent six weeks 
from home, riding on horseback and paying his own expenses, as there was 
not sufficient money in the State treasury to defray them. This period was 
known as the " dark days." The crops of the farmers had been unfavorable, 
and destitution and distress pervaded the army. There was no money nor 
credit in either department. 

In 17S1 Mr. Oilman succeeded General Sullivan as a member of the fed- 
eral Congress, and was re-elected the second year. He was at that time the 
youngest man in Congress, but his influence was not the least. At the end 
of his service in Congress he succeeded his father as treasurer of the State, 
showing a remarkable aptitude for finance, only second to that of his father. 

John Taylor Oilman was a Federalist in politics, and a firm supporter of 
the administration of Washington. In 1794 Dr. Bartlett, who had been sev- 
eral times elected president of the State, and who had served as the first gov- 
ernor, declined all further public offices, and John Taylor Oilman was selected 
as the standard bearer of his party. Tiinothy Walker Avas the candidate 
of the Republicans. That party was just then greatly in the minority, and 
Oilman was easily elected. He was at this time at the meridian of his 
strength and ripened manhood, and one of the most popular men in the State, 
He was re-elected several times, though opposed by such men as Walker and 
Langdon. In 1S05 the Republicans triumphed, and John Langdon was elected 
governor. Four years afterward the Federalists again came into power, but 
Jeremiah Smith was the gubernatorial candidate. The next year Langdon 
was again elected, and also in iSii. William Plumer, of Epping, was elected 
by the Republicans in iSi;. Plumer was renominated the following year, but 
the Federalists, who had again taken John Taylor Oilman for their stand" 
ard bearer, triumphed. Mr. Oilman was elected the two next consecutive 
years without any trouble, although opposed each time by that able Repub- 
lican chief William Plumer. His administration covered the exciting period 



448 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['794 

of the last war with England, and though of the opposite party ill politics, he 
was not one to dally when the honor of the flag was in jeopardy. He man- 
aged the affairs of the State with much energy and skill, its military defences 
requiring his exclusive attention. Detachments of militia were located on the 
frontier of the '' Coos country," to guard against invasion in that quarter. 
In 1S14 an attack from the British fleet, off our coast, was expected to be made 
on the navy yard at Portsmouth, and upon the town itself. Great excitement 
prevailed. All eyes were directed to Governor Oilman, who, serene and calm. 
but active and determined, surveyed the scene. He issued his call for troops: 
the State militia, prompt to respond, rushed forward with all its former alac- 
rity and patriotism. More than ten thousand men gathered at Portsmouth 
and upon the shores of the Piscataqua, to meet the lion of St. George. But 
the danger passed ; the war closed, and New Hampshire, under the guidance 
of its master liand, came out unscathed and untarnished. 

Governor Gilman declined a re-election in 1S16, and announced his inten 
tion never to participate in political struggles again. He had now reached 
that age at which it is natural for men to look forward to days of rest and 
seclusion. Few men had lived a more active life, or had been more promi- 
nently before the public. He had been chief magistrate of the State for four- 
teen years, a much longer period than any other man, —John Langdon, who 
came next to him, having been governor for a term of eight years, and Josiali 
Bartlett, William Plumer, and Samuel Bell four years each. No one of the 
royal governors held the office so long, with the single exception of Benning 
Wentworth, whose administration began in 1741 and ended in 1767, a period 
of twenty-six years. 

The latter part of the governor's life was spent in that retirement which, 
after such a public and excited career, could not have been uncongenial to 
him, in the rural occupations that he loved, and in the cultivation of the social 
relations. The memories of the past thronged upon him. He loved to recall 
the days of Washington, and he wore the old costume — long waistcoai, 
breeches, and queue — to the last. He was interested in all educational prc- 
jects, and was for a long time one of the trustees of Dartmouth College, an-; 
presidentof the trustees of Phillips Academy at Exeter. The site now occu- 
pied by the academy was given by Governor Gilman, who ever felt an affec- 
tionate concern for its welfare. In iSiS Dartmouth College bestowed upon 
him the degree of LL.D. 

Of a strong and original intellect. Governor Gilman was a keen observe>' 
and logical reasoner. Few men could see so far as he could, and he was al- 
ways ready to act upon any and all occasions. As a man, he was ardent, im- 
petuous, and unieserved in his acts and feelings. A true patriot and an 
ardent lover of his country, lie was ever wont to freely canvass the policy and 
motives involved in the old national struggles. Life's warfare over, he sleeps 
now near the home of his youth, among the friends of his boyhood and 
noble manhood. But the turf rests lightly above his grave, and his name is 
sacredly linked with the other illustrious dead of our early history. 

Of Governor Gilman"s personal appearance we have several descriptions. 



1794] STATE GOVERNMENT. 449 

He was six feet high, of a portly figure, and neighed about two hundred 
pounds. He had keen bhie eves, a fair complexion, light brown hair, a lion- 
like jaw, and a nose of composite order, being neither Roman, Greek, or Jew- 
ish. He was a most dignified old man, and preserved his straightness and 
vigor to the last. He died in August, 1S2S. 

Colonel Gilman, as we have said, died in 17S3. His large property was di- 
vided among his sons. The youngest, Nathaniel, had married Miss Abigail 
Odlin, relative of Dr. Odlin, and he now became the owner of the original 
Odlin property. It was his home for the remainder of his life. Nathaniel 
was a boy of sixteen when theRevoliition commenced, and did not go to the 
field at all. But he did useful service at home, in assisting his lather in his 
manifold employments. He succeeded his father as financial agent for the 
State, and was a prosperous and prominent citizen. Though he did not fill 
the nation's eye like his older brothers, Colonel Nathaniel Gilman filled many 
important offices in his day. He was prominent in the State militia, was a 
State senator, and served as State treasurer for many years. He died in 1847, 
at the age of eighty-seven, llewas thefatherof four daughters and seven sons. 

Nathaniel Gilman wt.s the tallest and the stoutest of the three brothers. 
He was the Roman of them all, six feet and two inches in height, of remark- 
ably muscular and vigorous mold, with a Roman nose, light hair, and the fair 
complexion of the Gilmans. Grave and sober in his look, we can imagine the 
fear with which he was regarded by the urchins who used to pilfer his fruit. 
His older brother. Senator Nicholas, was the most elegant man of liis day in 
New Hampshire. He had the fine physique of Ezekiel Webster, and the 
winning grace of Aaron Burr. His height was five feet and ten inches, the 
height of a gentleman, according to Chesterfield. He had a nearly straight 
nose, mild blue eyes, a handsome chin, and wore his hair in a queue. Blonde, 
superb in carriage, of striking dignity, he W'as the perfect ideal gentleman of 
the old school. 

Nicholas, like his brother, John Taylor, was a soldier of the Revolution. 
His whole term of service included six years and three months. During the 
latter part of the war he was deputy adjutant-general, and in that capacity 
ivas at Yorktown, where he received from Lord Cornwallis, to whom he was 
sent for the purpose by Washington, the return of exactly seven thousand and 
fifty men surrendered. He held the commission of captain, and was for a 
time a member of General Washington's military family. After the suspen- 
sion of hostilities, Nicholas Gilman was a delegate, from his Slate, to the Con- 
tinental Congress for two consecutive years — 17S6 and 17S7. Under the new 
constitution he was a member of the House of Representatives in Congress 
eighty-ears, and a United States senator for nine years. He died before the 
completion of his second term, at Philadelphia, while returning from Wash- 
ington, May 2, 1S14. He was never married. He resided all his life with his 
brother Colonel Nathaniel. 

At the death of the latter the house and estate came into the hands of one 
of his sons, Joseph Taylor Gilman. He married Miss Mary E. Gray, 
daughter of Harrison Gray, of Boston. In 1S62 Mr. Gilman died, compara- 



450 IIISTOKV OF NEW II AlIPSHI KE. ['794 

tiveh- a voiiii;; m.m. His widow, ril'tcr iliio time, iiian-ied again — .i man 
not unknown to fame, — Hon. Charles II. Bell, in iSSi the chief e.\ecu- 
tive of New Hampshire. Governor Bell is a son of Hon. John Bell, who 
was governor of the State in 182S. He bears a noble name, a name scarcelv 
second to that of tlie Gilmans in age and honor. T«-o brothers of the name 
liave been governors of the state dnring a period of five vears; one was a 
United States senator from New Hampshire for twelve vears, and a justice of 
the Supreme Court for three years. Another of the name was chiet justice of 
New Hampshire from 1859 '" 'S64, and one of the most eminent lawvers in 
the State. They have been spealiers of the house, presidents of the Senate, 
and congressmen, filling every office with ability, honesty, and lienor.' 

Ill 1794 a post-rider went between Boston and Concord eacli 
way once a week. A weekly line of stages was advertised, run- 
ning from Concord, through Pembroke, Allenstown, Chester, 
and Haverhill, to Boston. Two days' time was allowed for the 
mail to make the trip one way. The advertisements of this year 
mention no public conveyance in other directions. The notice 
appeared October i. 

In November the stage line made a connection at Haverhill 
with stages for Exeter and Portsmouth. Passengers were 
allowed to carry fourteen pounds of baggage free. 

Walpole was at that time a place of more business than an\- 
in that vicinity, and was much resorted to by the people of the 
neighboring towns. There was also a considerable travel from 
a distance passing on what was called the great river road. The 
inhabitants of that part of the valley of the Connecticut river were 
then just passing from the rude and boisterous manners of first 
settlers to a more civilized, orderly and composed state.^ A set 
of young men, mostly of the legal profession, gathering from 
many miles up and down the river, were much in the habit of 
familiar intercourse for the sake of amusement and recreation. 
They occasionally met at village taverns, but more commonly at the 
sessions of the courts, and freely indulged in gaming, excessive 
drinking, and such like dissipations. The most of them were 
gentlemanly in manners, and some talented. The ruin of some 
served as a warning to others.'^ 

" Mr. West was by far the first and best lawyer, and in all re- 
spects the most respectable man, in that region of country. He 

■ iM-ed Myvcii t.i.lby. = Jeremiah M.ison. 



1/94] STATE GOVEKNiMKNT. 45 1 

was educated at Princeton College, and commenced the practice 
of law at Charlestown before the close of the Revolutionary 
war. He had good natural powers of mind, a quick and clear 
perception, a delicate taste, highly refined, a sound judgment, 
and lively imagination. His style of speaking was simple, nat- 
ural, smooth, and mild ; always pure and neat, and sometimes 
elegant ; with a good person, clear and pleasant voice, much 
earnestness and apparent sincerity, — he was altogether a most 
persuasive speaker." ^ In arguing cases of complicated and 
tloubtful evidence before a jury he had few or no superiors. In 
the discussion of questions of law, and in argumentation of 
mere abstract propositions, he was less powerful, for he was 
deficient in law learning. " This he was fully sensible of, and 
attributed it to his having quitted the study when he began the 
practice of the law. He said of the elder Judge Livermore, who 
had been attorney-general of the Province before the Revolution, 
and chief justice of the Supreme Court, that, having no law 
learning himself, he did not like to be pestered with it at his 
courts ; that when he (Mr. West) attempted to read law books in ' 
a law argument, the chief justice asked him why he read them ; 
if he thought that he and his brethren did not know as much 
as those musty old worm-eaten books ? Mr. West answered, 
" These books contain the wisdom of the ancient sages of the 
law." The reply was, "Well, do you think we do not under- 
stand the principles of justice as well as the old wigged lawyers 
of the dark ages did ? " Thus his law books were laughed out 
of court. This was surely but poor encouragement for the dry 
study of law books. ^ Mr. West was a member of the conven- 
tion of New Hampshire for adopting the constitution of the 
United States, when from his known talents much was expected 
from him ; but his modesty and diffidence kept him from speak- 
ing although he was very much interested in the result, which 
was for a long time in suspense. 

Joseph Dennis, a graduate of Harvard College, 1790, was also 
practising law at Walpole at this time, although "his legal 
knowledge consisted wholly in a choice selection of quaint, obso- 

■ Jeremiah Mason. 



452 lllSTOKV OF Ni:\V IIAMPSIIIKE. L ' 794 

lete, and queer phrases from 'Plowden's Commentaries,' the 
only book he ever read with any attention. These phrases he 
often repeated in ridicule of the law, to the great amusement of 
his auditors. He was the most aerial, refined, and highly sub- 
limited spirit,"' with "a good share of native genius, and a 
delicate and accurate taste, cultivated by an ardent study of the 
English classics." He afterwards edited the Portfolio in Phil- 
adelphia. 

' " Another of the extraordinary men who then ranged that 
country was William Coleman, afterwards so greatly distin- 
guished as the editor of the Nezu York Evening Post, under 
the patronage of General Hamilton, that his opponents gave him 
the title of field-marshal of Federal editors. By great industry 
and persevering diligence he acquired a good education. As a 
lawyer he was respectable, but his chief excellence consisted in 
a critical knowledge of the English language, and the adroit 
management of political discussions. His paper for several 
years gave the leading tone to the press of the Federal party." 
He freely admitted the assistance he received from Alexander 
Hamilton in writing his most powerful editorials. 

-In contradistinction to most of the places in the valley of the Souhegan, 
Milford boasts of no antiquity and will not celebrate its centennial until 1894. 
For its origin it is indebted to a genuine outburst of human nature in the 
form of dissatisfaction, which took place in the old town of Monson. That 
ancient, now extinct, town was incorporated April i, 1746, and was bounded 
on the north by the Souhegan river and south by Ilollis. Its corporate exis- 
tence lasted for twenty-four years, during which time it regularly held annual 
town meetings, elected its town clerks, selectmen, tithingmen, hogreeves and 
other town officers ; but there is no evidence that it ever had a school-house, 
meeting-house, or a •■ learned orthodox " or other minister. The only public 
structure ever owned by the town was a pound built for the confinement of 
disorderly cattle. At the first town-meeting, held in May, 1746, it was voted 
to build a pound and also buy a suitable "book to record votes in, and other 
things as the town shall see fit." The people of Monson, however, liketlieir 
neighbors of HoUis, do not at any time seem to have been well content with 
their chartered boundaries. Several expedients in difterent years came before 
the annual meetings proposing changes in the chartered limits, soine of them 
favoring additions to its territory, others a division of it in various ways. 
Among the rest was a proposal adopted at the March meeting in 1760, to 

I Jeremiah Mason. 2 J. B. Conner. 



1796] STATE r.OVERNMENT. 455 

annex the land on the south side of Monson to Ilollis, and to petition tiie 
governor and Council for such part of Souhegan west to be added to Monson 
as would be sufficient to maintain the Gospel and other incidental charges. 
Again, in 1761 the town voted to set off a mile and a half on the south to 
Hollis. This last was passed to favor a petition of Ilollis to the General Court 
for the like purpose. After this date all questions looking to a change in the 
boundaries of the town seem to have rested until 1770, when the people of 
Monson, having abandoned all hope of maintaining preaching, or of " settling 
the Gospel among them," petitioned the General Court to put a final end to- 
their unhappy and troubled corporate life by a repeal of their charter. In 
this petition thev gave as a reason the barrenness of the soil about the centre of 
the town, and their inability to establish the Gospel or even to build a meet- 
ing-house. The consent of Hollis to accept of two miles in width of the south 
side of the suppliant town, and of Amherst all the residue, having been ob- 
tained, an Act was passed by the General Court in 1770, dividing Monson by 
a line extending east and west, passing very near its centre, and annexing 
the south part to Hollis and the north to Amherst. 

In 1793. the town of Milford was incorporated, the Act chartering it being- 
entitled : "An Act to incorporate the south-westerly part of Amherst, the 
north-westerly part of Hollis, the Mile Slip, and Duxbuy school farm into a 
town. Milford as incorporated included a small part of Amherst north ol" 
the Souhegan, much the largest portion of that part of the old town of Mon- 
son which was ceded to Amherst in 1770, all of the Mile Slip notincluded in 
Raby, with the Duxbuy school farm, and an area of one thousand acres taken 
from Hollis. Thus it will be seen that Monson, after having been carved into 
many slices and served up in a variety of ways, was finally collected, moulded 
into a different form, given another name, and in its new dress graces one of 
the most beautiful spots on the Souhegan river. 

The charter for the first New Hampshire turnpike, extend- 
ing from Concord to the Piscataqua bridge, in the vicinity of 
Portsmouth, was granted by the legislature in 1796, and was 
promptly commenced and completed, running through the ex- 
treme northern section of Pembroke. This was the first of a 
series of these thoroughfares, extended by the enterprise of a 
few public-spirited individuals into every section of the State. 

'Turnpikes are not of American origin. They existed in the 
mother country long before the days of Mansfield and Black- 
stone. The first turnpike road was between the West Riding 
of Yorkshire and London. This Act was passed in the fifteenth 
year of the reign of Charles the Second. It was an innovation 
that excited great hostility. The people benefited by it tore 

'Julin M. Shirley. 



454 HISTORY OF NEW llAMPSHIKE. [1/96 

tlown the toll-bars, and the new enterprise was baptized in blood 
before the people would submit to it. The new system tri- 
umphed by slow degrees. 

Macaulay graphically describes the condition of that country 
with respect to communication before such roads became accept- 
able to the public. 

Capital seeking an outlet saw its opportunity, and under a 
swarm of Turnpike Acts the country was at last gridironed with 
these roads. 

The turnpike craze in this State is almost forgotten ; we caught 
it from Massachusetts ; it began in 1795 and culminated about 
twenty years after ; it wrought a revolution in public travel, 
relatively, nearly as great as that brought about by the railwa)' 
craze between 1840 and ICS50. The system with us did not 
originate in the local want or demand along the lines contem- 
l^lated. Other and more far-reaching causes, as we shall see, 
were at the bottom of the movement. The settlement of the 
.State was necessaril}' by progressive, though at times apparently 
simultaneous, steps. First came the settlement and location of 
the four towns, and the opening of communication between 
them ; then the advent of the trapper, hunter, and scout into 
the unsettled portion ; then came the land grants, and the set- 
tlement in isolated locations ; then the blazed path to the parent 
towns and to the cabin of the pioneer or the outposts ; then the 
drift-ways, cart-ways, and the local roads winding from cabin to 
cabin ; then the town-ways and session or county roads, with 
here and there the " provincial " roads like that which passes 
through Gilmanton and that which was laid out and built from 
the Gerrish place — now the county farm at Boscawen — to the 
college at Hanover in 1784-86 by legislative committee, and 
that laid out by a like committee from Hale's Bridge, in Wal- 
pole, in the county of Cheshire, running si.Kty miles to a pitch- 
pine tree on Deerneck in Chester. 

Fifty-three turnpike companies were incorporated in this 
State. The Acts of corporation in Massachusetts were in 
fact based on English models, but the Bay State mind, then as 
now, felt itself competent to improve upon anv model, irrespec- 



1796] STATE GOVEKX.MKNr. 455 

tive of whether it was the work of human liands or of the Divine 
Architect ; and as minds differed even in Massachusetts there 
was a marked diversity in these Acts ; and the New Hampshire 
Acts were Httle less consistent or coherent. 

" The New Hampshire turnpike road " is commonly known 
as "the first New Hampshire turnpike," because it was the first 
Act of the kind in this State. John Hale, Arthur Livermore, 
Isaac Waldron, John Goddard, Thomas Leavitt, William Hale, 
Jind Peter Green, all notable men, were the corporators espe- 
cially named in the Act. This Act was passed June i6, 1796. 
The road ran from Piscataqua bridge in Durham to the Merri- 
mack river in Concord, passing through Lee, Barrington, Not- 
tingham, Northwood, ICpsom, and Chichester. The distance 
was thirtv-si.\ miles. 

The elaborate plan or survey of tliis pioneer turnpike in tliis State may still 
be seen in the State Hou&e in Concord. The Act contains in eft'ect eleven sec- 
tions. The first gave the names of the corporators, the name of the corpora- 
tion, and conferred upon it the inestimable privilege of suing and being sued; 
the second provided for the organization and the establishment of regulations 
and by-laws for the government thereof; the third empowered the corpora- 
tion " to survey, lay out, make, and keep in repair a turnpike road or highway 
of four rods wide, in such route or track as in the I e~t of their judgment and 
skill will combine s/ioyhtess of distance -vit/i the most practicable ground 
between the termini; the fourth provides that the damages to landowners 
should be fixed by the Court of Common Pleas, if the parlies could not agree: 
the fifth in relation to ■• gates" and ■■ turnpikes ", to prevent trespass; 
the sixth authorized the appointment of toll-gatherers and fixed tne rates of 
toll; the seventh authorized the purchase of one thousand acres of land in fee 
simple, and provided that the shares be assigned by deed, and that the shares 
bought be sold for non-payment or assessments ; the eighth prohibits the 
taking of toll prior to the expenditure of six hundred dollars upon each mile 
of the road, a proportionate sum upon the whole number of miles; by the 
ninth the corporation was liable to be indicted and fined the same as towns 
for defective highways, with a proviso that if the turnpike road ran over any 
part of the road then used the company should neither collect toll for that 
part nor be liable to repair it; the tenth provided that an account of the ex- 
penditures and profits should be laid before the Superior Court at the end of 
twenty years, under penalty of forfeiture of charter, that if the net profits 
for the twenty years should exceed twelve per cent, per annum the court 
might reduce the tolls so that it should not exceed that rate, and if the profit 
was less than six per cent, the judges might raise the toll so that the rate should 
not be less than six nor more than twelve per cent. ; the eleventh provides 



456 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['797 

that the charter sliould be void unless tlie road should be completed in ten 
_vrars, with the proviso that the State, alter the expiration of fortv vears, might 
convert the same into a public highway by repaying what had been expended 
by the company, with interest at the rate of twelve per cent, per annum 
thereon, after deducting the amount of the toll actually received. 

Some of the provisions of this Act and that of the fourth are in marked con- 
trast. The preamble to this Act and the petition for the fourth should be read 
•ogether; they were both the work of comprehensive minds having the same 
objects in view. 

The preamble is as follows : — 

"Whereas a petition has been presented to the General Court, setting forth 
'.hat the communication between the sea coast and the interior parts of the 
State might be made much more easy, convenient, and less expensive, by a 
direct road from Concord to Piscataqua bridge than it now is, between the 
country and any commercial seaport; that the expensiveness of an undertak- 
ing of this kind, however useful to the community, would burthen the towns 
through which it may pass so heavily as to render it difficult to effect so im- 
Dortant a purpose, otherwise than by an incorporated company, who might 
■iie indemnified by a toll for the sums that should be e.xpended by them : there- 
fore it was prayed by the petitioners that they and their associates might be 
incorporated into a body corporate for the aforesaid purpose, under such limi- 
tations, and with such tolls as might be thought fit, which prayer being rea- 
sonable, etc." 

Al the meeting of the legislature in June, 1797, John God- 
dard had three votes for speaker ; Woodbury Langdon, seven ; 
P-Ussell Freeman, forty-one ; and William Plumer, seventy- 
three ; and William Plumer, who for si.x years had held aloof 
from the legislature, practising his profession, was thus wel- 
comed back to public life. He was at that time a Federalist.' 

2 Edward St. Loe Livermore, at the head of the Rockingham 
county bar, having accepted a seat on the bench of the Supreme 
Court, Portsmouth offered a fair field to a rising young lavi^yer, 
Jeremiah Mason, to enter. It was relatively a place of more 
importance than now. Its chief sources of prosperity were 
shipbuilding, for which it had peculiar facilities in its noble 
harbor, and in its proximity to extensive forests, and the carry- 
ing trade, — for both of which it was mainly indebted to the wars of 
the French Revolution, which were desolating Europe. It had 
many prosperous and enterprising merchants, and an active, 
thrifty, and energetic population. Its ships were known in every 

'William Plumer, Jr. - Icreini.i'i M.isrn'.^ Life. 



1/97] STATE GOVERNMENT. 457 

clime, and the commerce which enriched it gave an improved 
tone to the manners and social habits of its inhabitants.^ Many 
men of good judgment entertained the behef that the future 
progress and prosperity of Portsmouth v/cre more assured than 
those of Boston. 

Portsmouth was also at that time a pla^e of more than com- 
mon social attractions. Even before the Revolution, in days of 
wigs, cocked hats, and flowered waistcoats, it was the residence 
of many cultivated families and the seat of a generous hospitality, 
and at the close of the last century its old character remained, 
indeed made more marked by the wealth which commerce had 
poured into its lap. The Marquis of Chastellu.x, who was there 
in 1782, speaks of seeing handsome women elegantly dressed, 
of dinners and suppers, and of fine houses richly furnished. 
There must have been an easy, agreeable, and somewhat refined 
society. Travelling was slow, difificult, and expensive. For 
society, the inhabitants were mainly dependent upon them- 
selves ; the ties of social life were closely drawn. Men were not 
so busy and time was not so precious as now. Books, news- 
papers, and magazines were rare ; men and women read less, 
but talked more, and wrote longer and more elaborate letters, 
than now. ' Cheap postage has spoiled letter writing.' Much 
time was spent in social visits ; tea parties and supper parties were 
common. The gentlemen had their clubs and exclusive social 
gatherings, sometimes too convivial in their character; and 
"occasionally a youth of promise fell a victim to the temptations 
of a mistaken hospitality." Gaming was more common among 
respectable people than now.^ 

^There are different divisions of Methodists, but those most 
common in this section of the country, and the largest body of 
them, are called Episcopal Methodists. The denomination 
originated in England in 1739, mainly under the labors of Rev. 
John Wesley. 

The first Methodist Society in this country was organized in 
New York city in 1766. It was composed of immigrants from 
Ireland, who had been won to the faith by the preaching of Mr. 

' Jeremiah Mason's Life. - Joseph FuUonton. 



458 HisToKV OF m;\v iiami'shire. ['79/ 

Wesley. The first Methodist preacher in that city was Philip 
Embury. New England was visited by several preachers, amoni;' 
them being Rev. Jason Lee, a pioneer often on the frontiers,^ 
travelling on horseback, and addressing, with great earnestness,, 
zeal, and fervor, multitudes that came to hear him. He was in 
Boston, where he preached once under the great elm on the 
Common. 

No sooner had a foothold been gained in Massachusetts than 
New Hampshire was considered a field to be cultivated. In 
1794 the New England Conference appointed John Hill to 
labor in this State. What came of this is not known, as there 
is no record of his work. Possibly he did not come into the 
State. Yet, through the efforts of some one, a society was soon 
after formed in Chesterfield, which in 1797 had ninety-two mem- 
bers, and that year Smith Weeks was appointed to that place. 
The church there still exists, and is probably the oldest in the 
State. Two years later Elijah Batchelder was appointed there. 

In the meantime other sections were visited. Jason Lee, above named, 
labored in the lower part of the State to some extent. Some opposition was 
encountered, but in general a good work is not hindered by opposition, but, 
on the contrary, is usually advanced. During the year 1800 a society was 
constituted in Landaff and one in Hawke, now Danville: in 1801 one in Han- 
over; in 1S02 one in Biidgewater and one in Kingston ; in 1803 one in Grant- 
ham; in 1S04 one in Pembroke, one in Loudon, and one in Tuftonborough ; 
in 1S05 one in Northlield and one in Centre Harbor; in 1S06 one in Ports- 
mouth; in 1S07 one in Canaan and one in Rochester; in 1810 one in Green- 
land. 

The several places to which a minister was appointed constituted a " cir- 
cuit," receiving its name from the principal town; and this continued, espe- 
cially in country regions, until within a very few years. A circuit embraced 
two, three, or more towns. These the minister was to visit and hold evening 
or other meetings. When a circuit was very large, two ministers were 
assigned to it. On a circuit, a minister was much in the saddle, or travelling 
on foot in wilderness regions, finding his way by spotted trees. 

During the times in which the above societies were established, and later, 
there were several distinguished ministers doing good service in the State- 
among whom should be named the following : — 

Rev. Elijah Hedding, who travelled over some of the rough portions of the 
State, preaching the gospel to many, but subsequently becanie a bishop, and 
resided in Poughkeepsie, N. V., wliere he died. 

Rev. Wilbur Fisk, who was a presiding elder in New Hampshire, and 



I79S] STATE GOVERN M1;NT. 459 

afterwards became presidentof Weslejan University, in Middletown, Conn., 
and \vas elected bishop, but diid before serving in that office. 

Rev. John Broadhead, a native of Pennsylvania, who was for some time ;i 
presiding elder — a man of sterling ability- and an effective preacher, who 
resided at what is now South Newmarket, was a senator in the legislature, 
and for four years representative in Congress, and who died April 7, 1S3S. 

^ In June, 1788, Benning Moulton, and fifty-one others, "in- 
habitants of Meredith Neck, the northern district of New Hamp- 
ton and New Holderness, and of the southern district of Moul- 
tonborough," petitioned the legislature to be severed from the 
respective towns to which they then belonged, and incorporated 
into a "township by the name of Watertown," for the following 
reasons : " That the lands aforesaid are so surrounded with 
ponds, and impassable streams running into and out of said 
ponds, and so remote from the centres of the respective towns 
to which they belong, that we have hitherto found the greatest 
inconvenience in attending public worship." The matter came 
before the legislature in January 1789, and a committee, consist- 
ing of Hon. Joseph Badger of Gilmanton, Daniel Beede, Esq., 
of Sandwich, and Captain Abraham Burnham of Rumney, 
was appointed "to view the situation of the premises petitioned 
for, . . . and report their opinion thereon to the General Court 
at their next session." 

The committee visited the locality in May following, with a 
copy of the petition, in which the bounds of the proposed town 
were described, and containing the names of the petitioners. 
They made up their report on the premises, and wrote it on the 
back of the copy of the petition, dating the same "Centerr 
Harbor May y« 28th, 1789." It seems from this, that there was 
a landing then called "Centre Harborr," eight years before the 
town was set off and incorporated. 

Three men by the name of Senter signed this petition ; and as 
the committee had it before them when they made up their 
report, it is not probable that such men as Judge Badger, by 
whose hand the report was made, or either of the others, would 
have written " Center" if they had intended to write " Senter." 

The aforesaid committee reported against the petitioners, 

M W. Hammond. 



460 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l799 

saying, " That while the lands proposed would make a conven- 
ient small town it would be a damage to Holderness and Mere- 
■tlith, and that neither of the towns would be able to support 
public worship," and the matter then dropped until 1797, at 
which time a petition was presented to the legislature, bearing 
■date " New Hampton, June, 1797," signed by James Little and 
forty-six others, praying "That your honors would set off such 
a part of said town as is included in the following bounds as a 
town, and that it may be incorporated by the name of Centre 
Harbor." The bounds are then given, which they say are 
•"agreeable to a vote of the town of New Hampton in the year 
1786." The legislature appointed a hearing for their next ses- 
sion, and required the petitioners to post a copy of the petition 
and order of court in some public place in said town, eight 
weeks before said hearing, and serve a like copy on the select- 
men. There is preserved the copy which was posted, written 
in a plain hand, the corners showing the nail holes, and contain- 
ing a certificate dated November 18, 1797, stating that it was 
posted at the store of Moses Little in New Hampton, eight 
weeks prior to said date ; and also a copy containing an acknowl- 
edgment of the selectmen of service on them, in both of which 
the name of the proposed town is written " Centre Harbor." If 
it was the intention of the people to name the town Senter's 
Harbor, it is impossible that it could have been posted in a con- 
spicuous place, and undoubtedly read by nearly every man in 
town, and the error remain undiscovered. 

Add to this fact that it has been spelt " Centre " in the town 
records from that time to this, and that the first petition from 
the town after its incorporation, which was for the appointment 
of Lieutenant Winthrop Robinson as justice of the peace, was 
dated "Centre Harbor, April, 1798." 

The first settlements were made by Ebenezer Chamberlain 
in 1765 and Colonel Joseph Senter in 1767. A Congregational 
church was formed in 1815, over which Rev. David Smith was 
ordained in 18 19. 

One of the duties imposed upon the tithingmen in 1799 was 
to stop all persons travelling on the Sabbath, and interrogate 



iSOOj STATE GOVERNMENT. 461 

them in relation to their business, names, and places of resi- 
dence. Proud of their brief authority, zealous in the cause, they 
were frequently a source of annoyance almost unbearable, seiz- 
ing upon the reins of the traveller's horse with the ungracious 
rudeness of the highwayman, rather than as the conservators 
of religious observance and civil order. 

Eighty years after the event Colonel Willian: Kent gave his 
account of how the inhabitants of Concord, few in number, at- 
tended the funeral services on the death of General Washing- 
ton, at the Old North meeting-house in Concord, February 22, 
1800. They formed a procession, old and young, and marched 
to the church. 

" The solemniU' of the occision, the deep mourning dress of the pulpit and 
galleries, in connection with the sad countenances of the people, are vivid in 
my memory to this day. Concord at that time, and for many years after, 
had a population of about two thousand, with the same territorial limits as 
at present. 

" In the precinct, in what may be called the city proper, there was only one 
■street, now called Main street, and then only llu street. The principal ave- 
nue to the street was then called Milk road (now called Pleasant street). It 
led to the grist-mill belonging to the late Jacob Carter, father of our esteemed 
citizen Jacob Carter, Esq., and at the present time owned and occupied by St. 
Paul's school. This road, or Pleasant street, had only ten buildings as far 
as the top of the hill opposite the asylum. On the north, beginning at the 
corner of the street now called Green street, and as far north as Centre street, 
was a swamp with a brook leading to the river, and a dense growth of trees 
or shrubbery to the top of the hill, the section now occupied by our most 
valuable residences. About the year 1S15 Judge Green built the house now 
occupied as the Asylum for the Aged, on about sixty-five acres of the land 
■connected therewith. As evidence of the greatly increased value, the house 
and land belonging were sold for $5000. 

"On the south of Pleasant street, extending to Bow line, the land was 
occupied for cultivation and pasture, with the exception of a few scattered 
house-lots, not exceeding twenty in all. 

"Main street at that time, according to my recollection, from the south end 
to the north, had five public-houses ; one of which, called the Butters' Tavern, 
is now the only one standing; six stores; and the whole number of dwellings 
did not exceed seventy-five. The first and only brick building in Concord 
was erected in 1S06, and is now occupied by the First National Bank. At 
that time there was no public conveyance in any direction. This fact I can 
fully realize, as I was a student at Atkinson Academy, and the only mears of 
coming home at vacation was by the post-rider, who carried the mail once a 
week on horseback from Haverhill, N. II., to Haverhill, Mass., who led xay 



462 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [18OO 

horse by his side for me to ride. The post-office was kept by David George, 
in a small 6 byS room in his hatter's shop. The whole contents of a mail for 
Concord might not have required more than a good-sized hat. Correspond- 
ence was rare, and mostly of imperative necessity, on account of the expense 
of postage. Letters directed the shortest distance took ten cents for postage, 
and the expense proportionally increased with the distance; love letters 
were few and far between. The only meeting-house in town was the Old 
North, standing on the spot now occupied by the Walker school-house, 
and it continued to be so until the year iS;;6, when the First Baptist church 
was dedicated; and in 1S29 the Unitarian. The churches have continued in- 
creasing with the increase of population, now numbering, in all the city> 
fifteen." 

'The second New Hampshire turnpike road was incorporated December 26, 
1799. It ran from Claremont through Unity, Lempster, Washington, Mar- 
low, Hillsborough, Antrim, Deering, Francestown, Lyndeborough, New 
Boston, Mont Vernon, and to Amherst, th ough as respects several of these 
towns it merely " cut the corners." It was fifty miles in length. 

The third was incorporated December 27, 1799. It ran from Bellows Falls 
and Walpole, through Westmoreland, Surry, Keene, Marlborough, Jaffrey, 
and in a direction towards Boston. The distance was fifty miles. 

The petition for the fourth New Hampshire turnpike road was presented 
to the legislature in iSoo, and was signed by Elisha Payne, Russell Freeman, 
and Constant Stoors." 

On November 25, 1800, the House "voted that the prayer 
thereof be granted, and that the petitioners have leave to bring 
in a bill accordingly," with which the Senate on the next day 
concurred. 

The population of the State in 1800 was 183,868; but the 
population of the towns through some portion of which the 
turnpike passed was less than 10,000. 

'Before considering the act of incorporation, it may be useful to advert 
briefly to some of the more salient of the almost innumerable provisions of 
the English Turnpike Acts. 

They provided that two oxen were to be considered the same as one horse; 
that cattle str.iying on a turnpike road might be impounded; that nails in 
wheel tires should be countersunk so that they should not project more than 
one-fourth of an inch above the surface; that carriers' dogs should not be 
chained to the wagons ; that teams should not descend hills with locked 
wheels unless resting on skid pans or slippers ; that supernumerary "beasts of 
draught" should not be used without licence; that no goods should be un- 
loaded before coming to a turnpike gate or weighing machine; that drivers 
should not turn from the road to avoid such machine; that children under 
thirteen years should not be drivers ; that all drivers must give their names ; 
that no driver should ride, etc., without some one on foot or horseback to 
^ John M. Shirley. 



iSOO] STATE GOVERNMENT. 463 

guide the team; that drivers when meeting other carriages " must keep to 
the left side of the road;" that no person should pull down, damage, injure, 
or destroy any lamp or lamp-post put up in or near the side of a turnpike 
road or toll house, or extinguish the light of such lamp; and that no wind- 
mill should be erected within two hundred yards of any part of the turnpike 
road. 

It was made the duty of the turnpike surveyor to prevent and remove all 
annoyance by filth, dung, ashes, rubbish, or other things whatsoever, even if 
laid upon a common within eighty feet of the centre of the road, and to turn 
any watercourse, sinks, or drains which ran into, along, or out of any turn- 
pike road to its prejudice, and to open, drain, and cleanse watercourses or 
ditches adjoining the road, and to deepen and enlarge the same if the owners 
neglected so to do after seven days' notice in writing. 

With very trifling differences the same rule was applied to obstructions of 
highways and turnpikes. 

No tree, bush, or shrub was allowed within fifteen feet of the centre, un- 
less for ornament or shelter to the house, building, or courtyard of the owner. 
Hedges and boughsof trees were to be kept cut and pruned, while the possessors 
of the lands adjoining the roads were to cut down, prune and lop the trees 
growing on or near the hedges or other fences in such a manner that the 
highways should not be prejudiced by the shade, and so that the sun and 
%\ind should not be excluded from them to their damage, with the pro- 
viso that no oak trees or hedges must be cut except in April, May, or June, 
or ash, elm, or other trees except in December, January, February, or March. 
The surveyor could not compel the cutting of hedges except between the last 
day of September and the last day of March. 

The hedges were to be cut six feet from the surface of the ground, and the 
branches of trees, bushes, and shrubs were also to be cut, and were treated 
as a nuisance if they overhung the road so as to impede or annoy any person 
or carriage travelling there. 

When a turnpike road was laid out, which rendered an old road unneces- 
sary, the trustees, etc., could discontinue the old road, which thereby vested 
in them, and they might sell and convey the saine by deed, or they might 
by agreement give up the same to the owners of adjoining lands by way of 
exchange, or the old road might be sold to some adjoining landowner, or in 
case he refused to purchase to some other person. 

Upon the completion of the contract the soil of the old road vested in the 
purchaser and his heirs, — saving fossils, mines, and minerals to the original 
proprietor. 

The exceptions under the English Acts were much more minute than un- 
der section six of the Act under consideration. 

No toll could be collected for horses or carriages which only crossed the 
turnpike, or which did not pass one hundred yards thereon, or for horses or 
carriages conveying any one to or from the election of a member of the 
county where the road was situate; or for the mails or the military service, 
nor for any inhabitant of a parish, etc., attending a funeral therein, nor for 
any curate, etc., visiting any sick parishioner or attending to any other paro- 



464 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 80O 

chial duty within his parish ; nor from any person going to or returning 
from his parochial church or chapel or usual place of religious worship toler- 
ated by law, on Sundays or any day on which divine service was by authority 
allowed to be celebrated. 

The first meeting of the corporation was duly warned by Ehslia 
Payne, January 28, 1801. The meeting was held at the dwelling- 
/ house of Clap Sumner, " Innholder," in Lebanon, on March 24, 
1801, at ten a. m. Elisha Payne was chosen moderator, Benja- 
min J. Gilbert of Hanover was chosen clerk, accepted his ap- 
pointment, and was "sworn accordingly." 

An examination of the list shows how largely the people at 
Portsmouth, at Hanover, and at Lebanon were interested. 

The shareholders at Hopkinton were headed by Judge Harris. 
Herriman, or Harriman, also resided there. 

The list shows, with the exception of Bowers and a few others 
in Salisbury, how few shareholders there were in the outset 
along the line from Boscawen ferry to Lebanon. 

The next step was to provide for locating the road. This was, if possible, 
more delicate and difficult than the raising of funds. The feelings of the 
rival interests along the line were very strong. With the e.xception of that 
part of the road from Fifield's mills to Horse-shoe Pond in Andover, a distance 
of about three miles, there was likely to be a sharp and bitter controversy 
about the location of the entire route. Strange as it may seem, Roger Per- 
kins and General Davis at this time had not discovered how vital it was for 
the interest of that section that the turnpike should run from the Potter Place 
to Hopkinton. Through their efforts, mainly, this route was afterwards laid 
out b^' order of the court, and partially built. It was overthrown by Ezekiel 
Webster, who never forgot the hostility of the people of Hopkinton towards 
him in a celebrated case, upon the ground mainly that for a portion of the 
way it ran along or over old highways. 

The corporators in the outset determined to select people outside the State 
to make the location in order to avoid the huckstering and log-rolling which 
had made so much trouble in other cases, and which afterwards caused so 
much feeling in the location of railroads. Accordingly at the adjourned 
meeting, M.iy 29, 1801, the following votes were passed : — 

"Voted that General James Whitelaw of Ryegate, General Elias Stevens of 
Royalton, and Major Micah Barron of Bradford, all in the State of Vermont, 
-, be a committee to survey and lay out the route for the fourth turnpike road 
in New Hampshire. 

The great question before the legislature at the June session, 
1800, was on the memorial of certain persons asking for the estab- 



l80l] STATE GOVERNMENT. 465 

lishment of another bank in Portsmouth.' Soon after the estab- 
lishment of the New Hampshire bank, a company was formed 
in that town, which issued bills and transacted the ordinary busi- 
ness of a bank, though unincorporated. The old bank was in 
the hands of the Federalists ; the new one, established by 
Langdon, Sherburne, Goddard, and other Republicans, was not 
a mere money concern, but was intended as an engine of poli- 
tical power. They had the year before applied for an Act of 
incorporation, which was denied them ; and a law was passed 
making all such unincorporated banking associations unlawful. 
The State had, also, became a stockholder in the old bank. 
The March elections had turned mainly, in many places, on this 
bank question ; and the Republicans had gained largely by the 
votes of men who regarded the old bank as a monopoly, the 
State subscription as a bribe, and the new bank as the only sure 
>emedy for the financial evils of the times.^ 

The question came up in the House on a memorial of the 
.lew bank, praying for the repeal of the prohibition on unin- 
corporated banking associations, the law not having gone into 
operation. The Federalists were opposed to the request on 
party grounds, and were represented by William Plumer ; the 
petitioners were represented by Mr. Goddard, the ablest debater 
on the Republican side. After a heated debate, the law was not 
repealed. 

The session closed on Monday, the governor refusing to ad- 
journ the Houses on Saturday lest some of the members might 
travel towards their homes on the Sabbath. Mr. Sheafe was 
elected to the United States Senate by a small majority.^ 

The Federalists were evidently losing ground, and the new 
bank at Portsmouth was gaining friends in every part of the 
-State. It required the utmost personal popularity of some of 
the tried Federal leaders to secure their election to the legis- 
lature. When the legislature met at Hopkinton in June, 1801, 
though the Federalists had a decided majority, John Langdon, 
the Republicans' candidate, wanted but two votes of being 
elected speaker. Prentice owed his majority of one to the vote 

■William Plumer, Jr. 



466 IIISTOKV Ol- NKW HAMI'SIlIKi;. [ I .So2 

of a mail whom he had grossly insulted at a former session, — 
proof at that time of the influence of party over individual con- 
duct, especially as Prentice was much inferior as a presiding 
officer to Langdon. The proprietors of the Union Bank re- 
newed, at this session, their application for an Act of incorpora- 
tion. The Federalists being divided in opinion, the bill passed 
the House but was rejected by the Senate ; at the next session, 
however, the Union Bank obtained its charter. The Repub- 
lican party had, in the meantime, by the election of Mr. Jeffer- 
son to the presidency, gained the ascendency in the general 
government, but were still in a minority in New Hampshire. 
Accessions to their number were owing to the local question of 
the bank. The .system of paper money, except in the old form 
of State notes, which had everywhere jiroved disastrous to 
public credit, was at that time a novelty in the State. For 
years the Union Bank confined its loans to its political friends, 
or to those whom it hoped to make such. The old bank was 
not more liberal in its policy. The system of State banks 
spread in all directions, and on the whole was beneficial to the 
public interests, and continued in force until the establishment 
of the National Bank system. 

At the June session, 1802, William Plumer was elected to fill 
the unexpired term in the United States Senate of Mr. 
Sheafe, who had resigned. Nicholas Oilman, the candidate of 
the opposition, was also a Federalist, but less pronounced in his 
views than his brother. Governor Gilman. At that time Mr. 
Plumer was considered the ablest man in his ]iartv. 

' Prior to the appointment ol' Judge Siiiitli in 1S02, the la« in this Slate :»■; 
a science had no existence. For tliis there are' two principal reasons: — 

I. Under the proprietary government of Mason we had no law of our own. 
either statute or common. As late as 1660, Mason claimed that New 
Hampshire and Maine were governed by the law of the mother counlr\. 
Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, and Hampton were little principalities, and did 
substantially as they pleased. The Province, as such, had no existence be- 
fore the union with Massachusetts, in 1641, nor until after the forced separa- 
tion in 1679. 

The first code of laws enactecl in this Province, in 1679-1680, was in sub- 

ijul.n -M. Slu,l,.y. 



l802] STATE GONEKNMKNT. 467 

stance a re-enactment of the Mosaic coile, was sent to the mother country for 
roval sanction, and was disallowed by the Privy Council, as many others 
afterwards were. 

During the reign of James II. the laws were silent. A trinity of pro- 
consuls ruled and robbed the people. In 1692, seventy years after the settle- 
ment, we were entirely destitute of what is called ivritlen law. Man}' statutes 
were enacted after this time which never received the sanction of the King 
and Council. 

No laws were published until 1716, when an edition of sixty pages folio 
was published in Boston. In 171S seventy-two pages were added, and in 
1719 twenty-four pages more. After this, and before 1728, sixteen pages 
more were added, making in all a volume of one hundred and seventy-two 
pages. There was no printing press in this Province till 1756. An edition 
of the statutes was published here in 1760, but discarded as not authentic, 
and a new and carefully printed edition was published in 1771. After 
the Revolution, the statutes were printed in folio till 1789, when an octavo 
edition, containing the public and some of the private laws, was published 
by order of the legislature. The dissatisfaction of the public compelled the 
publication of a new and revised edition in 1792, which was followed by the 
edition of 1797, and afterwards by the more copious one of 1805. 

The statute law, when Judge Smith came to the bench, was in a crude, 
•;haotic, and imsatisfactory condition, and the common law far worse. 

2. With notable exceptions, like the Livermores, which prove the rule, the 
Jench was filled with broken-down ministers, lumbermen, bankrupt traders, 
.;nd cheap lawyers. From two to four of these judges, as the quorum varied, 
attended each trial term, if they did not, as sometimes happened, forget the 
time; and not unfrequently they all charged the jury in the same cause, dif- 
fering oftentimes as much as the opposing counsel. 

Smith was a strong man. It needed some iron hand to purge the Augean 
stable, and he came. He was one of the best representatives of that industri- 
ous, tough, enduring, Scotch-Irish stock, who regarded it as recreation to 
work or fight from dawn till set of sun, and then to spend half the night in 
jest, and song, and story. At forty, Sm.ith was a profound lawyer. He had 
absorbed the history of New England, and especially of this Province and 
State, as a sponge does water. At this time he was the greatest master of 
probate law in New England. No one since has equalled him; and no one 
in this State has approached him except the late Charles H. Atherton. He 
prepared two large manuscript volumes on the subject. It cost a vast amount 
of time and labor, and was an able work of great value. It was the reservoir 
from which Webster, Chief Justice Richardson, and others hardly less emi- 
nent, continually drew. Notwithstanding he was a busy man of affairs, he 
was top-heavy with law learning when he came to the bench, and when he 
retired, at the age of fifty-six, he had accomplished more than ought to be 
expected of those at seventy-five, who now stand in the fore-front of the 
profession with the aid of all the modern appliances. 

Upon coming to the bench, Judge Smith promptly introduced the practice 



46S HISTORY OF NEW IIAMI'SIIIRE. [l^OJ 

of allowing a single judge to direct the course of trials, at the trial terms, of 
reserving cases and questions for the consideration of the whole court, and 
of preparing written opinions. 

This brought order out of chaos, but tlie labor was immense. Besides that 
expended on the great work of his life, the treatise on probate law, he pre- 
sided at the trial terms, examined the cases, and prepared the written 
opinions in all cases heard in banc, numbering from sixty to seventy yearly, 
and making fourteen manuscript volumes with a manuscript digest. 

Partisan madness prevented the publication of these opinions when that 
publication was demanded by every rational consideration of the public in- 
terest. Had they been published when they ought, thousands and tens of 
thousands of the money of individuals and the public would have been saved, 
for a very large proportion of the questions heard before Judge Smith have 
since been litigated at great expense.' 

^The curious traveller may still trace with little difficulty the 
line of the old Middlesex Canal, with here and there a break, from 
the basin at Charlestown to its junction with the Merrimack at Mid- 
dlesex village. Like an accusing ghost, it never strays far from 
the Boston & Lowell Railroad, to which it owes its untimely end. 

Judging the canal by the pecuniary recompense it brought its 
projectors, it must be admitted a dismal failure ; yet its incep- 
tion was none the less a comprehensive, far-reaching scheme, 
which seemed to assure a future of ample profits and great pub- 
lic usefulness. Inconsiderable as this work may appear com- 
pared with the modern achievements of engineering, it was, for 
the times, a gigantic undertaking, beset with difficulties scarcely 
conceivable to-day. Boston was a small town of about twenty thou- 
sand inhabitants; Medford, Woburn, and Chelmsford were insig- 
nificant villages ; and Lowell was as yet unborn, while the valley 
of the Merrimack northward into New Hampshire supported a 
sparse agricultural population. ]3ut the outlook was encourag- 
ing. It was a period of rapid growth and marked inprovements. 
The subject of closer communication with the interior early be- 
came a vital question. Turnpikes, controlled by corporations, were 
the principal avenues over which country produce, lumber, fire- 
wood, and building-stone found their way to the little metropolis. 
The cost of entertainment at the various country inns, the frequent 
tolls, and the inevitable wear and tear of teaming, enhanced 
very materially the price of all these articles. The Middlesex 

' JoliM M. Shirley. = L. L. Dame. 



i0f 



1803] STATE GOVERNMENT. 469 

Canal was the first step towards the solution of the problem of 
cheap transportation. The plan originated with the Hon. James 
Sullivan, a judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, attor- 
ney-general, and governor in 1807 and 1808. He was a brother 
of General John Sullivan, of Durham. 

A brief glance at the map of the New England States will bring out in bold 
relief the full significance of Sullivan's scheme. It will be seen that the Mer- 
rimack river, after pursuing a southerly course as far as Middlesex village, 
turns abruptly to the north-east. A canal from Charlestown mill-pond to 
this bend of the river, a distance of twenty-seven and a quarter miles, would 
open a continuous water-route of eighty miles to Concord, N. H. From thi& 
point, taking advantage of Lake Sunapee, a canal could easily be run in a 
north-westerly direction to the Connecticut at Windsor, Vt. ; and thence, 
making use of intermediate streams, communication could be opened witlv 
the St. Lawrence. The speculative mind of Sullivan dwelt upon the preg- 
nant results that must follow the connection of Boston with New Hampsliire 
and possibly Vermont and Canada. He consulted his friend, Colonel Bald- 
win, sherift' of Middlesex, who had a natural taste for engineering, and they 
came to the conclusion that the plan was feasible. Should the undertaking 
succeed between Concord and Boston, the gradual increase in population and 
traffic would in time warrant the completion of the programme. Even should 
communication never be established beyond Concord, the commercial advan- 
tages of opening to the market the undeveloped resources of upper New 
Hampshire would be a sufficient justification. A charter was granted, bearing- 
date of June 22, 1793, "incorporating James Sullivan, Esq., and others, bv 
the name of the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal," and on the same day 
was signed by His Excellency John Hancock, governor of Massachusetts. 

Colonel Baldwin, who superintended the construction of the canal, re- 
moved the first turf September 10, 1794- The progress was slow and at- 
tended with many embarrassments. The purchase of land from more than 
one hundred proprietors demanded skillful diplomacy. Most of the land.s 
used for the canal were acquired by voluntary sale, and conveyed in fee-sim- 
ple to the corporation. Sixteen lots were taken under authority of the Court 
of Sessions ; while for thirteen neither deed nor record could be found when 
the corporation came to an end. Some of the land was never paid for, as the 
owner refused to accept the sum awarded. The compensation ranged from 
about $150 an acre in Medford to $25 in Billerica. The only instrument 
used for engineering purposes was a level imported from England. Of the 
two routes considered, the rejected route was forty years later selected for the 
Lowell Railroad. The canal was thirty feet wide, and four feet deep, cost 
$500,000, was twenty-seven and a quarter miles long, connected Charles 
river with the Merrimack above Lowell, and was opened to public navigation 
in 1S03. 

As the enterprise had the confidence of the business conimunitv, monev 
for prosecuting the work had been procured with comparative ease. The 



470 jriSTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 804 

stock was divided into eight hundred shares. The stock had steadily ad- 
vanced from $25 a share in the autumn of 1794 to $473 in 1803, the year the 
tanal was opened, touching $5cw in 1S04. Then a decline set in, a few dol- 
lars at a time, till 1S16. when its market value was $300 with few takers, 
although the canal was in successful operation. 

^ The Federal party was carefully organized in the spring of 
1804 by Senator Plumer to carry the fall election.s. Although 
Governor Oilman had been re-elected in Marcli, a majority of 
both Houses was Republican. Associating with himself five 
other persons, one from each county, he formed a self-constitu- 
ted State committee, of which he was chairman. Under their 
auspices county committees were formed, who in turn organized 
town and school district committees, whose duty it was to bring 
out every Federal voter to the polls, and to secure as far as pos- 
sible every wavering and doubtful voter for their party. This is 
believed to have been the first instance in this State in which a 
systematic attempt was made to bring the whole force of a party, 
thoroughly organized, to bear with undivided weight on the 
result of an election. Newspapers were provided for gratuitous 
distribution : post-riders were employed to distribute them in 
every part of the State. An address was prepared by Mr. 
Plumer: six thousand copies were distributed, in every town in 
the Commonwealth. The election occurred in August for rep- 
resentatives to Congress, and through these unusual exertions the 
Federalists carried the State by an average majority of nearly 
•eight hundred votes. ' 

At the presidential election, however, the Federalists suffered 
a fearful defeat by the Republicans, losing New Hampshire by 
over five hundred votes. Even Massachusetts voted for the re- 
election of Thomas Jefferson as president. He received all but 
fourteen of the one hundred and seventy-six electoral votes. 
The opposition to him was confined to Connecticut, Delaware, 
and Maryland. 

- Hon. John Pickering of Portsmouth was i-emoved from the office of judge 
of the district court for New Hampshire in the year 1S04, and died in 1805. 
He was born in Newington in 173S, graduated at Harvard College in 1761 ; 
i^oon became eminent in the profession of the law in Portsmouth; was an 



lS04] ' STATE (iONEKNMENT. 47 1 

-active partisan in dotenco of tlic rights and libertv of America ; as earl)- as 
177.5 was on a committee to prevent the importation of tea; in 1775. 1776, and 
several other succeeding years, was an influential member of the legislature 
i'rom Portsmouth; was a member of the convention, and assisted in framing 
our State constitution ; was chief justice of our Supreme Court for five years. 
<L-ommenciMg with 1790; was previously attorney-general for one year; served 
as governor most of one year, after John Langdon was chosen senator; was 
one of the electors of president for 17S8 and 1792, and had the privilege of 
voting for Washington and sustaining his administration ; was appointed by 
his fellow citizens to address Washington in 17S9, when Washington visited 
Portsmouth. His address and Washington's answer may be found in Brews- 
ter's " Rambles about Portsmouth." About the end of the year 1795, upon his 
resignation of the office of judge of our State court, he was appointed by Wash- 
ington to the office of district judge of New Hampshire. It was suggested that 
the health of Judge Pickering at this time was not firm, and this change of office 
was made because the duties required of the incumbent of the district court 
were less laborious than the requisitions of the State bench. And there is 
the authority of Governor IMumer for the assertion, that the hypochondria of 
1794, of Judge Pickering, as it was then called, had, in 1803, been developed 
into such a condition, bodily and mental, as to render him incompetent to 
the proper discharge of his official duties. It was not doubted his mental 
powers were deranged. Then the question arose how to get rid of the judge 
from the bench. In February, 1803, President Jefferson sent his message to 
the House of Representatives, enclosing a letter and affidavits exhibiting a 
complaint against Judge Pickering. The message and papers were referred 
to a committee consisting of Nicholson of Maryland, James A. Bayard of 
Delaware, John Randolph of Virginia, Tennev of New Hampshire, and El- 
mendorf of New York, with instructions to report thereon. On the iSth 
of February Mr. Nicholson made his repott, recommending the adoption of 
the following resolution : Resolved, That John Pickering, judge of thf New 
Hampshire district court, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors. 

This report came up for consideration in March, 1803, a day or two before 
the close of the session of that Congress. Goddard of Connecticut moved its 
postponement to the next session. This motion was sustained by the mover, 
Mitchell of New York, Dana of Connecticut, and Mott of Pennsylvania. It 
was rejected by the House, and the resolution was adopted. Messrs. Nichol- 
.son and Randolph were appointed managers, by the House, to conduct pro- 
ceedings before the Senate. The House resolution was transferred to the 
Senate, and was there postponed to the next session. At the session of 1S04 
the trial came on. Governor Plumer was then one of the senators from this 
State. He states that both of the New Hampshire senators were examined 
as witnesses as to the character of Judge Pickering, and testified to the high 
moral worth of the judge so long as he retained the use of his reason. Here 
then was exhibited, before one of the highest tribunals of our land, the ex- 
traordinary attempt to interpret mental insanity, in its meaning and conse- 
quences, as tantamount to crime and misdemeanor — an unuarrantable 



472 IIISTOKV OF Ni:\V HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 804 

attempt to confound all distinction of law and justice which, when carried 
into practice, would pervert the constitutional provision of impeachment for 
crime into an unconstitutional mode of removal from office without crime. 
Senator Samuel White of Delaware, on this occasion, used the following 
strong denunciatory language. He said: "The accused is in default, not in 
consequence of contempt of court, but under the awful visitation of God. and 
as he is mentally deranged, our proceedings scarcely deserve the name of a 
mock trial." Nicholson, senator from Virginia, here called out, ''Order! 
Order! Order! I will not permit our proceedings to be called by the name 
of a mock trial." 

Mr. White said to the president: '■ I am in order, sir: I repeat it. it is a 
mock trial. I have no wish to give oflence, but if that gentleman is offended, 
I am ready to give him satisfaction at any time and place." The president 
gave no rebuke to the parties. No meeting followed their words. Governor 
Plumer informs us that the impeachment met with strenuous opposition in 
the Senate. The measure was carried at last by tlie vote of seventeen to 
seven nays — several senators refusing to vote. The whole Senate then con- 
sisted of thirtv-two; only twenty-four voted for the resolution; two-thirds 
were required to impeach. Judge Pickering was not present, nor was he rep- 
resented by counsel. It occurs to us his removal may have been justly de- 
manded, because his disease was shown to have been incurable, and his office 
probably required an incumbent able to work. Yet, admitting the public 
necessity of his removal, we cannot come to the conclusion that the Consti- 
tution of the United States, or its wise framers, ever contemplated that, in 
order to effect the removal of a judge admitted to be insane, the sole remedy 
must exist in the open and serious charge or allegation of committing some 
crime or misdemeanor, when it is obvious to everyone that his mental status 
is of that character as to render him not responsible for the commission of 
any offence. The provision for removal by impeachment was evidently de- 
signed to apply to cases of actual guilt, fully sustained by ample proof. In 
this case the severe charge is alleged, but the proof of guilt is wanting. 
Hence, the trial deserved Senator White's denunciation. If the public good 
demanded Judge Pickering's removal from office, why not resort to such a 
remedy, rather than to the harsh, unjust remedy of itnputing crime where 
none has been committed. We are glad to know that all our New Hampshire 
delegation in Congress, and such men as Huger, Griswold, John C. Smith, 
James A. Bayard of Delaware, and many other able men in both branches, 
were found in opposition to this wicked proceeding. ' 

-'The year 1S04 had witnessed the completion of the great enterprise — the 
fourth New Hampshire turnpike; that is, the road — to use the common 
speech of the times — had been "built through" and in some sense was open 
for public travel thereon ; but the cost had far exceeded the expectations of 
the pioneers in the enterprise. Instead of costing $600 or less per mile, it 
had cost $61,157.00, or more than $iJoo per mile. No toll-houses had been 
erected. No turnpikes or gates were set up till March 2, 1S06. The repairs 
were expensive, and the prospect of fat dividends was remote. 
'G. \V. NesmLli. =J. .M. .'iliirley. 



l804] STATE GOVERN M EXT. 473 

Until the turnpikes were set up, there was little disposition to pay toll. 
The location of tliese turnpikes was regarded as a matter of great importance, 
second only to the location of the road itself. Besides other places, tradition 
says that a gate was erected at George Hill in Enfield, which we know was 
afterwards removed to Fishmarket. Another was erected at the low Gav 
House in what is now Wilmot, some thirty or forty rods on the road to 
Springfield from the Porter K. Philbrick stand. The most important, witli 
perhaps one e.vception, was that at West Andover. It barred not only the 
fourth, but its great feeder the Grafton turnpike. It was erected almost op- 
posite to the great elm tree which now stands near the house of George M. 
Babbitt. 

There was another, known as the " Parker Gate," not far from the "Pet 
Webster place" in Salisbury, near what is now known as the Heath premises. 
The site of the old cellar of the toll-house may yet be seen. 

There was another in Boscawen, about which there was no end of con- 
tention. 

These gates were sometimes set up temporarily in one place and then re- 
moved to another for the greater security of the interests of the corporation. 
All sorts of lies, tricks, and evasions were resorted to to get rid of the pay- 
ment of toll. Selectmen sometimes laid out roads or changed the route of 
old ones in order to enable the traveller to leave the turnpike before he 
reached the gate, and then resume his travel on the turnpike beyond it. 

Sinners evaded the p.ayment of toll by claiming that they were passing 
with their horses and carriages to or from " public worship," when they 
never intended to attend anything of the kind in any sense known to the 
religious world. Among themselves they claimed that the charter did not 
define public worship, that going a-courting, attending a card party or a 
drinking bout where parties regaled themselves with that choice elixir of the 
saints. West India or New England rum, was religious service. Good chris- 
tians cheated the corporation out of its due by claiming that they were going 
to mill when they were going a-visiting or attending to their private busi- 
ness, and that they were engaged in their common or ordinary aftairs of 
business concerns within the town where they belonged when they were not 
engaged in such business, and were out of the town where they belonged. 

The winds blew, the floods came and washed away the road-bed. and ren- 
dered the travel thereon and upon the bridges unsafe. 

There were no stages here in those days to aid in swelling dividends. 
They were the product of a later epoch. There was a rumor that such things 
had been seen in New York, in 1S04. It was said, though not fully believed, 
that there was a New York and Albany stage line on the east side of the Hud- 
son river, that the stage left the city every morning at six o'clock and reached 
Albany on the third day, that the fare of each through passenger was eight 
dollars, and that every way passenger had to pay a York sixpence a mile. It 
was also said that a like stage ran daily on the west side of the river between 
New York and .\lbany. that the through fare was the same as on the other 
route, and that way passengers onlv had to pay five cents a mile. 



474 nisToNV ()i- NEW hami'shike. ['S05 

There were then no great transportation companies, and the canal craze 
which came on at a later day had not even reached this part of New Hamp- 
shire.' 

Down to 1805 New Hampshire was a Federal State; but in 
that year, after an exciting contest, the Republican party pre- 
vailed, choosing for a governor John Langdon, and carrying^ 
every branch of the State government by a majority of nearly 
four thousand. Simon Olcott's term of service in the United 
States Senate having expired in March, Nicholas Oilman, a Re- 
publican, was chosen in his place. He was the first Republican 
who had represented the State in either House of Congress, and 
his election was considered a great party triumph. 

William Plumer, in 1805, wrote Uriah Tracy as follows : — 

■ Democracy has obtained its long-expected triumph in New Hampshire. 
John Langdon is governor-elecL His success is not owing to snow, rain, 
hail, or bad rouds, but to the incontrovertible fact that the Federalists of this 
State do not compose the majority. Many good men have grown weary of 
constant exertions to support a system whose labors bear a close affinity to 
those of Sisyphus." 

To comprehend all that was implied in the popular conception 
of this political change, one needs to reflect in part upon a con- 
dition of society no longer obtaining. The dominant Federal 
element was largely embodied in the professional and official 
classes, who formed a kind of select aristocracy, more separated 
from the sympathy and co-operation of the common people than 
any considerably influential class in New Hampshire to-day. In 
a sense, the triumph of Republicanism was the success of the 
masses of the people. The commonalty, so to speak, had asser- 
ted their right to lead as well as to be led. The rights of the 
people have formed the theme of every Anti-Federalist since the 
adoption of the constitution.^ 

The Republicans came into full possession of the State govern- 
ment in 1806, re-elected Governor Langdon ; and the legislature 
elected Nahum' Parker to the United States Senate, to succeed 
William Plumer. In August five Republican members of Con- 
gress were chosen, thus making the whole delegation solid in 
supporting the administration of Thomas Jefferson. 

> John M Shirley, = William Plumer, Jr. 



l806] STATE GOVERNiMENT. 475 

The establishment of post-offices in many of the less impor- 
tant towns, in 1806, was without doubt very welcome to the 
inhabitants, and may be justly considered an important event in 
their history. 

In earlier times it was customary to intrust to some friend or 
acquaintance, who might be travelling in the right direction, a 
missive for an absent friend or relative. Doubtless the post- 
rider, in his journeying through the town, accommodated those 
living on his immediate route, and the blowing of his horn an- 
nounced his welcome approach. As a matter of course, few 
letters were written in those days, so that high rates of postage 
were not onerous. 

^ In 1806, as tradition has it, the Grafton turnpike was for- 
mally opened. The travel upon the great feeder as well as 
upon the trunk line steadily increased. Year by year new 
taverns were put up on the line. Year by year the pod and 
gimlet teams with their precious freight from beyond the State 
increased in number and their freight in importance. 

No coaches ran from Boston to Concord till 1807.^ The main 
public means of conveyance in 1806 was by the post-horse, 
which carried the packet while the post-boy walked by his side. 

We have no means of fi.xing the precise time when the stages 
ran north from Concord. Pettengill of Salisbury drove up the ' 
first trip. This was a two-horse coach. Harvey and others 
afterwards controlled this line of two-horse coaches. The larger 
ones came afterwards. The stages were passing up the turnpike 
just prior to the war of 18 12. 

James Rowe, Esq., of Wilmot, acted as post-boy and carried 
the mail from West Andover over the Grafton turnpike to Or- 
ford in 1822, "and did errands." There were no stages which 
ran over that route, to his knowledge, at or before that time. 

Between 181 5 and 1818 the Boating Company was organized, 
and the Canal Company located its northernmost boat-house 
and store at Concord. The big teams became one of the perma- 
nent institutions, and then came the stages with their whir and 
rattle, and the mails. This gave a ready market in every town 

> John iM. Shirley. 



476 



HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[1S07 



for all kinds of provision for man and beast and for the farmer's 
horses. 

The pressure of this increased travel demanded greater ac- 
commodations both as respects the road and along the line. 
Changes in the route were made to facilitate the transit of heavy 
freight, and some of them at great expense.^ 

^ Following the construction of the Middlesex Canal came the 
requisite works to render the Ivlerrimack river navigable from 
the head of the Middlesex to the town of Concord, being a 
series of dams, locks, and short canals to overcome the natural 




The old Blodgett Mansion at Amoskeag Canal. Erected in 1795. Pulled down in 1870. 

rapids and falls of the river. The first of these works was a 
lock and short canal at Wicasee Falls, three miles above the 
head of the Middlesex, at what is now known as Tyng's Island. 
No fall is now perceptible at that point, the Lowell dam having 
flowed it out. The second work, fifteen miles further up the 
river, at Cromwell's Falls, consisted of a dam and single lock. 
Then came dams and single locks at Moor's, Coos, Goff's, Grif- 
fin's, and Merrill's Falls. About a mile above Merrill's Falls were 
the lower locks of the Amoskeag — a canal next in importance to 

■ John M. Shirley. ' General George Stark. 



i8o7] 



STATE CIOVEKN'MENT. 



477 



the Middlesex. It was only about one mile in length, but sur- 
mounted, by works of very considerable magnitude, the great 
fall of between fifty and sixty feet that now furnishes the water 




WITH WIND AND CURRENT. 



power for the manufactories of Manchester. Its construction 
was first undertaken by Samuel Blodgett as early as 1794, but 
it was not completed until 1807. 



- 




BOAT ENTERING LOCKS. 



Eight miles above Amoskeag the locks and short canal of 
Hooksett overcame a fall of some seventeen feet ; and six miles 
further on the Bow locks and canal afforded the final lift of 



478 



HISTORY OF NEW IIAMPSIIIKE. 



\l807 



twenty-seven feet, to the level of the navigable water of the 
Merrimack river at Concord. 

Short side canals with locks were subsequently built at the 
junctions of the Nashua and Piscataquog rivers with the Merri- 
mack to facilitate the passage of boats from the Merrimack to 
the storehouses in Nashua and Piscataquog villages. 

For forty years this line of canals formed the principal channel 
of heavy transportation between the two capitals, and, except 
that the canals did not effectually compete with the stages for 
carrying passengers, they held the same position to transporta- 
tion as is now held by their successor and destroyer — the rail- 
road. 




THE TOW-PATH ON THE CANAL, 



During the entire season of open river, from the time that the 
spring break-up of winter ice permitted navigation to commence, 
until the frosts of fall again closed it, this eighty-five miles of 
water was thronged with boats, taking the products of the coun- 
try to a market at the New England metropolis, and returning 
loaded with salt, lime, cement, plaster, hardware, leather, liquors, 
iron, glass, grindstones, cordage, paints, oils, and all that infinite 
variety of merchandise required by country merchants, formerly 
classed under the general terms of "dry and West India 
goods." The original bills of lading show that they brought 
up from Boston, for consumption in the country, flour, corn, but- 
ter, and cheese, which plainly indicates that the people of the 



l8oS] STATE GOVERN'MKNT. 479 

Merrimack river valley gave more attention ' in those days to 
lumbering and river navigation than to agriculture. 

The boats were built of two-inch pine plank, spiked on small 
oak cross-joints and side-knees, and had heavy oak horizontal 
timbers at either end. The sides were vertical and without 
cross thwarts, except what was called the mast-board, — a thick 
oak plank, securely fastened across on top, from side to side, a 
little forward of the centre of the boat. A cross yard, with a 
square sail attached, which could be hoisted or lowered at plea- 
sure by a rope working over a single block in the top of the 
mast, completed the sailing outfit. It was only used upon the 
river, the mast being struck and stowed in the boat when pass- 
ing the larger canals. The rudder was a long steering oar, 
jMvoted on the centre of the cross-frame of the stern, the blade, 
about eighteen inches wide and ten feet long, trailing in the 
water behind the boat, and the handle or tiller extending about 
the same distance over the boat, so as to afford a good leverage 
for guiding the unwieldy craft. 

The Act of embargo went into effect at the end of December, 
1807, and was not repealed until a year had elapsed. Theamount 
of suffering it involved can hardly be appreciated. Had a farmer 
been forbidden to work his farm for a year, he would still have had 
his farm. The merchant's ships rotted at the wharf. The sailors 
were thrown out of employment, fortunes were swept away, 
and many were ruined. So disastrous were its effects that 
many of the most ardent Federalists could see relief only in a 
dissolution of the Union, which no longer protected their prop- 
erty. The Massachusetts legislature, in February, 1809, ''c- 
clared the embargo " unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional, 
and not legally binding on the citizens of the State." 

In the spring election, in 1808, for State officers, the Repub- 
lican party retained their ascendency, choosing a legislature 
which sustained the policy of President Jefferson, adopting 
an address to that effect ; but in the national election in the 
autumn the tide of politics turned, and the Federal party 
prevailed, cfeoosing five members of Congress, and presidential 
electors. 



480 HISTORY Ol' NEW IlA.MI'.Slll KI.. [ I 808 

'The commencement of the Amcri<an J^a/rt'pt wan attended by circinii- 
stances of no more favorable character than acconipanied preceding attempt^, 
except that Concord had been chosen in wliich to permanently hold the ses- 
sions of the legislature. In all probaliilify the Patriot, after brief existence, 
would have gone into the same grave as its predecessors, but for the fortunate 
circumstance that it came into the custody of a gentleman of the ability, in- 
dustry and tact necessary not merely to rescue it from the fate of other village 
journals there, but to make it a power in New Hampshire. This person was 
tlie late Hon. Isaac Hill, who in his day acquired a reputation as a political 
writer and journalist second to that of no other newspaper conductor. He 
came to Concord soon after the expiration of his apprenticeship with Joseph 
Gushing, proprietor and publisher of the Amherst Cabinet. The American 
Patriot had been six months in existence. The first number printed by Mr. 
Hill is dated April iS, 1S09; and thenceforward the people of New Hampshire 
came within an influence they had only imperfectly realized — the power ot 
the press to mold and guide popular opinion. Mr. Hill was a man of decided 
convictions and untiring industry, wrote witli great facility and vigor, and 
possessed that electric force by which a writer upon political adairs imparts 
to others the convictions and zeal possessed by himself Under his guiding 
hand the success of the Patriot was certain. It soon became a success-ful 
journal, attaining a wide and constantly increasing circulation ; greater than 
that of any preceding or contemporary journal in New Hampshire. Acircum- 
.stance which accelerated its growth was that difficulty with England which 
culminated in what is known as the war of iSi.:-i5. That the Patriot, in the 
bands of Mr. Hill, would have become permanent, even in years of profound 
calm, there is no reason to doubt ; but it is equally certain that its growth 
would have been less rapid, because of the natural sluggishness of mankind 
until moved by exciting causes, the disinclination of the people, during the 
first twenty years of the period here in review to expend money for the grat- 
ification of literary taste, and the limited amount of money in circulation. 

The only competitor of the AVw Hampshire I'atriot, from its commence- 
ment until the year 1S23, was the Concord Gazette. The scanty materials 
employed in printing the Gazette were purchased of Dudley Leavitt, the cel- 
ebrated almanac author, and were brought hither from Gilmanton Corner in 
a two-horse wagon. They had been used for printing one number of the 
almanac, and a village paper. The circumstance that only two horses were 
required to transport two men and the materials with which a weekly paper 
was equipped, sixty-five years ago, is of sufficiently suggestive character. 

Jeremiah Smith was elected governor in 1809. 

Judge Smith, after serving four terms in Congress, and as 
judge of probate in the county of Rockingham, was at forty-one, 
in February, 1801, made judge of the Circuit Court of the United 
.States for the district of New Hampshire; and in May, 1802, 
chief justice of the highest court in the State. He held this posi- 

* .\sa McFarland. 




,07SmilKE3M^IHI gSSHIPIlIo 



I Soy] STAT]'; r;ovEKNMENT. 481 

lion until 1809, when he was over-persuaded by certain of his pol- 
itical friends, among whom was Daniel Webster, to abandon it for 
that of governor, because the supposed interests of the Federal 
party required the nomination of its most available candidate. 

Jeremiah Smith, the son of William and Elizabeth (Morison) 
Smith, was born at Peterborough, N. H., November 29, 1759. 
His parents were of Scotch-Irish stock. His father was born 
in the north of Ireland, and his maternal grandfather, John 
Morison, was in Londonderry during the siege of that town, and 
was at the battle of the Boyne. He early developed great de- 
sire for learning ; sometimes walking miles to a place where he 
heard there was a book. When seventeen years of age he en- 
listed for a short term in the Revolutionary army, and was pres- 
ent at the battle of Bennington, where he was slightly wounded. 
In 1777 he entered Harvard College. After remaining there 
two years, he removed to Queen's (now Rutgers) College in New 
Jerse\-, where he graduated in 1780. He was admitted to the 
bar in 1786, and opened an office in his father's farm-house at 
Peterborough. In 1788, 1789, and 1790 lie was a member of 
the legislature, and was chairman of the committee which pre- 
jiared the draft of the revisetl statutes enacted in 1791. He was 
a member of the constitutional convention of 1791, and took a 
jirominent jiart in its proceedings. In December, 1790, he was 
elected a member of the second Congress of the United States, 
and was re-elected to the third, fourth, and fifth Congresses. In 
Congress he was a supporter of Washington's administration ; 
and, when the inevitable division into parties came, he joined 
the Hamiltonian Federalists. 

In July, 1797, he resigned his seat in Congress, accepted the 
appointment of Unitefl States district attorney for New Hamp- 
sliire, and removed to Exeter, which continued to be his home 
until within a few months of his death. In 1800 he was ap- 
])ointed judge of probate for the county of Rockingham, and it 
was probably at this time that he composed an elaborate treatise 
on probate law, which still exists in manuscript. In February, 
iSoi, he was appointed by President Adams a judge of the newly 
established U. S. Circuit Court, which was abolished a year later. 



482 HISTOKV OK M'.W IIAMCSIliKr.. [ 1 809 

In 1802 he was appt)into(l chief justice of tlie Superior Court 
ot New Hampshire, and served until i8og, when he became 
governor. Failing a re-election as governor, he returned to 
the bar in 1810, but left it in 1813 to take the position of chief 
justice of the Supreme Court established in that year. Upon 
the abolition of this court in 18 16 he returned once more to the 
bar, where he was associated with Mason and Webster as counsel 
in the Dartmouth College case. 

In 1820 or 1821 Judge Smith withdrew from active practice, 
and passed the remaining years of his life chiefly at his beautiful 
home in Exeter, still continuing to be a purchaser and reader 
of law books, and an indefatigable student of general literature. 
In these years he was never idle. In addition to his legal and 
literary studies he gave much time to financial and educational 
trusts ; serving as president of the E.xeter Bank, and as treasurei , 
and presiilent of the board of trustees, of Philli])s l^xeter Acad- 
emy. 

In the spring of 1842 he rcmoxed to Dover, N. II.. where he 
died September 21, 1843. 

The most important public service rendered b)' Judge Sniitii 
was that performed by him as chief justice of New Hampshire. 
Before his time the administration of the law in this State was 
exceedingly unsystematic, not to say chaotic. A lively sketch 
of the old state of things may be found in the life of Governor 
Plumer, pages 149-159 and 181-184. Many of the judges of 
the highest court had received no legal education. Two of the 
three associate justices at the date of Judge Smith's appoint- 
ment were clergymen. It cannot be doubted that the credit of 
"bringing ordei' of chaos" belongs to Judge Smith more than 
to any other one man "To him," said Mr. Mason, "the State 
is greatly, if not chiefly, indebted for the present more orderly 
proceedings, and better administration of justice." "With 
him," said Chief Justice Parker, "there arose a new order of 
things." The present chief justice (Hon. Charles Doe), in Vol. 
49, New Hampshire Reports, p. 604, alludes to the "inestimable 
labors of Chief Justice Smith, who found the law of New Ilani])- 
shire, in practice and administration, a chaos, and who left it com- 



iSog] STATE GOVEKNiMICNT. 483 

IJCiratively an organized and scientific system." "When I came 
to the bar," wrote Mr. Webster to Chancellor Kent, "he was 
chief justice of the State. It was a day of the gladsome light 
of jurisprudence. ... He knows everything about New 
England, having studied much of its history and its institutions ; 
and as to the law, he knows so much more of it than I do, or 
ever shall, that I forbear to speak on that point." 

The practice of reporting the decisions in print did not begin 
in this State until after Judge Smith had left the bench ; and 
consequently none of his opinions are to be found in the regular 
series of New Hampshire Reports. A volume selected from his 
manuscript decisions was published in 1879, and is commonly 
cited as " Smith's New Hampshire Reports." But these deci- 
sions, though praised by competent authorities, cannot give the 
present generation a fair idea of the worth of Judge Smith's 
judicial labors. His most valuable work, that of systematizing 
the practice and administering the law upon scientific principles, 
is something which cannot be fully delineated on paper or in 
print. 

Any sketch of Judge Smith would be incomplete if it failed 
to mention the high estimate generally formed of his conversa- 
tional powers. On this point it will be sufficient to cite the 
testimony of Mr. Webster, given near the close of his own life, 
after opportunity for converse with the best talkers of England 
as well as America. "Jeremiah Smith," wrote Mr. Webster in 
1849, "was perhaps the best talker I have been acquainted with ; 
he was full of knowledge of books and men, had a great deal of 
wit and humor, and abhorred silence as an intolerable state of 
existence." 

The two paupers who claimed support from a town in Rock- 
Ingham county were bid off to the lowest bidder — Joseph 
Baker bidding in a woman for twenty-three cents a week, and 
Solomon Wheeler, Esq., bidding in a man for one dollar and 
fifty-eight cents a week ; the town agreeing to clothe and pro- 
vide medical attendance for the unfortunate ones. This entry in 
the records of the town in 1809 is remarkable, as it is the first 
mention of the disposal of paupers in this way. 



484 mSTOKV ()!•■ NEW IIAMPSHIKE. [181O 

James Tallant was the post-rider out of Concord, and sup- 
plied the N'eic Hanipsliin- Patriot, then in its first vohnne, to 
its patrons, and, with the editor, dunned delinquents in its 
columns. 

John Langdon, the Republican candidate, was elected over his 
Federal opponent, Governor Smith. William Plumer, who had 
given in his allegiance to the popular Republican party, was elec- 
ted to the State Senate, and was chosen president of that body. 
The following year Governor Langdon offered $2000 to his party 
associates, to be used as a campaign fund, if they would excuse 
him from being again a candidate ; but his offer was not ac- 
cepted, and he was re-elected " against his old opponent, Gilman» 
the Federalists having dropped Smith, as less likely to suc- 
ceed." ^ Charles Cutts, a Republican, was elected to the United 
States Senate to fill out Nahum Parker's unexpired term. Of 
the five members chosen to Congress, in the fall of 18 10, four 
were Republicans. The parties were pretty equally divided, and 
neither could afford to be careless or indolent. Each was obliged 
to select good candidates, and to work hard in their behalf. The 
result being doubtful, elections were watched with lively interest, 
and the full strength of each party was brought out. Of wealth, 
influence, social position, and education the Federal party had 
a larger share than its rival. The clergy had much power over 
public opinion, and the clergymen of New Hampshire, as well 
as all New England, were generally Federalists, not only dislik- 
ing the politics of Jefferson, but hating him personally on ac- 
count of his heterodoxy in religion, with all the rancor of theo- 
logical hatred.'-^ 

The "Crow bill," so familiar to the legislature of late years, 
was discussed in Pembroke in 18 10. A bounty of twenty-five 
cents each was offered for the destruction of crows, but within 
the year the offer was repealed. 

Manufacturing of cotton into cloth, which has since become 
an industry of great importance in the village of Suncook, was 
first undertaken this year by Major Caleb Stark, a Revolutionary 
soldier and son of General John Stark. He purchased the 

I William Plumer, Jr. » Life of M.ison. 



l8l2] STATE GOVERNMENT. i 485 

establishment known as Osgood's Mills, which was being en- 
larged or rebuilt by a company, and intnxluced machinery lately 
invented. 

The celebrated "Cold Friday" was January ii, iSio. The 
people of that date kept indoors and piled the wood upon fervid 
fires. 

•"In 1812 William I'lumer of Epping was elected governor. 
He was a descendant of the Puritans, and was born in Newbury- 
port, Mass., in June, 1759, and in childhood was brought to Epping. 
He was a thoughtful and studious youth, and when twenty-one 
years of age began to preach as a Baptist minister, travelling" 
through most of the State, delivering one or two sermons every- 
day, and meeting with much success as an evangelist. In a 
short time, however, he turned his attention to legal studies. In 
1785 he was elected to the legislature, and again in 1786, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1787. Although a Federalist, he 
was elected to the legislature in 1788, 1790, 1791, when he was 
elected speaker, to the constitutional convention of 1791, to 
the House in 1797, 1798, 1800, and 1801. In 1802 he was 
elected to the Senate of the United -States to fill out Mr. 
Sheafe's term, and served until 1807. In 1810 and 181 1 he wa.s. 
elected to the State Senate, of which botl\- he was chosen presi- 
dent at both sessions. In 1812 he was elected governor by the 
Democrats, and re-elected in 1 8 16, 18 17, and 1818. At the close 
of his last term he retired to the quiet of his library and farm, 
and took no more active part in politics, until his death ia 
December, 1S50, at the age of ninety-one years. 

His election was by a very small majority. This too was tl}c 
year for the choice of presidential electors. The autumn elec- 
tion was contested with peculiar earnestness. Each party put 
forth all its strength, and after a hot conflict the Federal party 
prevailed, choosing the electors of president and the members 
for the thirteenth Congress. Among these latter was Mr. Web- 
ster, who had become widely and favorably known by " the 
Rockingham memorial " in opposition to the war, published in 
August, 18 1 2.2 



486 



HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[i8i: 



Inquiry is frequently made as to the disposition or fate of our judges, who 
are unable to discharge the duties of their stations by reason of permanent 
bodily infirmities, or confirmed mental insanity. 

As to the judges appointed under State authority, the constitution confers 
the power upon the executive to remove the judge in such cases, when both 
Houses of the legislature, in their discretion, shall, by their joint address, 
first determine that the public good requires the act to be done. 

The first under our own State Constitution occurred in 1812. William 
Plumer was governor; Arthur Livermore was chief justice of the Supreme 
Court; Clifton Claggett was associate justice; Judge Evans, who lies buried 
on the old Ilopkinton road, near Concord line, was associate justice. 

The views o£ Governor Plumer, in relation to the case of Judge Evans, are 
stated in the following extract: — 

"Livermore, tlie chief justice, though a strong man, felt the need of abler 
dissociates. Evans, who was not a lawyer, had been prevented by ill health 
from sitting on the bench more than one day for the last eighteen months. 
On applying in person for an order for his quarter's salary, the governor ad- 
verted delicately to the condition of the court, when Evans said that he had 
some thoughts of resigning, but that he was poor as well as sick, and wanted 
the emoluments of his office for his support. To remove a sick man, says the 
governor, in his journal, oppressed wit.i poverty, is a hardship to him; to 
.continue him in office is a greater haidship to the State. The legislature 
must decide. They had decided, in June, not to request his removal, and 
w ithout such request the governor could not act in the case." The governor 
placed the responsibilitv where it belonged. Here was a case of non-action.* 




CHAPTER XIV. 

1 1 'A /? OF /Si i- — 1 8 1 2- 1 8 1 5 . 

Causes of the War — Right of Search — Ordkrs ix Council — Decla- 
ration OF War — Governor William Pluaier — State Militia — • 
Daniel Webster— Governor John Taylor Gilman — Federalists 
restored to Power — Change op the Judiciary — Jeremiah Mason — 
Defence of Portsmouth — False Alarms — Hartford Convention 
— Peace. 

' I 'HE war of 1812, known for several generations as "the last 
war with Great Britain," arose from complications attendant 
upon England's titanic struggle to overthrow the Emperor 
Napoleon. Her enforcement of the right of search, to enable 
her ships to take enemies' goods out of neutral vessels, exas- 
perated even friendl}' powers, and as earl}- as 1801 Russia was 
joined by Sweden and Denmark to enforce resistance to the 
claim. In 1807 England had to face Napoleon alone. The 
battle of Friedland and the peace of Tilsit left him master of 
the greater part of the Continent. The English victory at 
Trafalgar two years earlier over the combined French and 
Spanish fleets had left England mistress of the sea. Prussia 
and Austria were already stripped of territory ; and, as protector 
of the Confederation of the Rhine, Napoleon ruled in Germany. 
Italy was directly subjected to his power. Unable to make 
war upon England by his fleets and armies, he attempted to 
subdue her by ruining her commerce. By the Berlin decree he 
declared the whole of the British islands to be in a state of 
blockade, though he had not a single ship at sea to enforce his 
declaration. He declared all British manufactured goods pro- 
hibited wherever his power reached ; and excluded from his 



488 IIISTOKV OK NEW IlAMl'.sllIKE. [lSl2 

dominions even neutral ships which had touched at a British 
port. The British government retaliated by Orders in Council 
that declared that all vessels trading with France were liable to 
seizure, and that all such vessels clearing from a hostile port 
must touch at a British port to pay customs duties. Napoleon 
answered by the Milan decree, forbidding neutrals to trade in 
any article imported from any part of the British dominions. 
The Orders in Council cost England a war with America. The 
Berlin and Milan decrees contributed largely to the overthrow 
of Napoleon's power. Every poor man who was debarred from 
the means of providing sugar or cloth for his family felt the 
grievance. The French Republic had declared war against the 
nobles : Napoleon decreed an oppression which was felt in every 
cottage. 

The right of search, many years enforced by the English, was 
a grievous burden to our adventurous sailors, and an insult to 
every patriotic American. The Orders in Council, enforced by 
the whole power of the British navy, amounted to a confiscation 
of American ships ; and as the English Government refused to 
withdraw it at the urgent request of President Madison, he 
called an e.xtra session of Congress in November, iBii, and 
laid before them the state of our foreign relations and recom- 
mended preparation for war. Congress at once increased the 
force of the navy and the regular army, accepted the service of 
volunteers, detached the State militia, and made other active 
preparations for war ; and in the early pait of 1812, insults and 
injuries being continued on the part of Great Britain, openly 
declared war on that power. This act of war was unpopular 
with the Federalists, but was sustained by the great majority of 
the American people, who felt that a resort to arms was the only 
alternative for maintaining our rights, protecting our citizen.s, 
and sustaining the national honor. 

President Madison made requisition upon the government of 
New Hampshire for its quota of militia to be detached, armed, 
equipped for actual service, and in readiness to march at the 
shortest notice ; and Governor John Langdon issued general 
orders in the latter jmrt of ]\Ia\- for a draft (if three thousand 



l8l2] WAR OF l8l2. 489 

five hundretl men, leaving their organization into companies, 
battalions, and regiments in the hands of his successor, Gover- 
nor William Plumer, who entered upon the duties of his office 
in June. The declaration of war found the militia of the State 
in a flourishing condition. It consisted of three divisions, si.\ 
brigades, and thirty-seven regiments. 

William Plumer was elected governor by the legislature as 
an Anti-Federalist. 

In 1812 he was in the prime of manhood, and though not a 
military man, was one of energy, patriotism, method, and great 
executive ability. His heart and hand were in the cause. His 
predecessors in office had been men engaged in the Revolu- 
tionary struggle, and in time of peace had prepared for war by a 
well-regulated militia. Timoth)' Upham and John A. Harper 
were his aids, Michael McClary, adjutant-general, Samuel 
Dinsmoor, quartermaster-general, and Moody Bedel, com- 
mander of a brigade. In June Major-general Clement Storer o. 
the first brigade detached a battalion to defend the sea coasi 
about Portsmouth, the companies being commanded by Captain.' 
Robert Neal, Samuel Shackford, Joseph Towle, and John Leor 
ard. Moses C. Pillsbury, many years warden of the State Prisor., 
was a sergeant in Captain Leonard's company. At the samt 
time a company under command of Captain Ephraim H. Mahu 
rin was stationed at Stewartstown, on the northern frontier. 
John Page, jr., afterwards United States senator and governor, 
was his lieutenant. 

1 The office of governor of New Hampshire had, in 1S12, great 
importance attached to it in popular estimation. The ofifice 
had been confined for many years to two men — John Langdon 
and John Taylor Gilman. " Langdon, the leader of the De- 
mocracy, was, perhaps, the most perfect gentleman in the State ; 
dignified, yet easy of deportment, urbane and courteous, with a 
native grace which won the good-will and respect of all who ap- 
proached him. Gilman, the representative of less popular opinions, 
was also a man of good personal appearance and refined manners, 
and wore the old-fashioned cocked hat of the Revolution with an 



49© HISTOKV OF NEW HAMI'SlilRE. [l8l2 

ease and dignity not unbecoming his high station." The unpop- 
ularity of the embargo had made Judge Smith governor in 1809. 
Langdon positively declining to be a candidate this year, on ac- 
count of the infirmities of age, William Plumer was the candi- 
date nominated by the Democracy to defeat John Taylor Oilman, 
the Federal candidate. Personal attacks were made on the 
character of Mr. Plumer. He was charged with having once 
been a zealous Baptist preacher, and then an unbeliever ; once 
a Federalist, then a Democrat. He was known as an advocate 
of equal justice to all sects, both in court and legislature, and 
the charges as to his liberality of creed were thought to be no 
disadvantage to him. The Congregational clergy were mostly 
Federalists ; the Methodists, Baptists, and other minor sects 
were arrayed against them. So many votes were thrown away 
by Republicans who remembered Plumer as a Federalist, and 
by Federalists who thought Judge Smith had not been fairly 
dealt with, that the election was thrown into the legislature. 
William Plumer was elected governor by one hundred and four 
votes against eighty-two for Gilman. All branches of the Gov- 
ernment, including the Council and the judiciary, were now 
Republican. The day before the meeting of the legislature 
Governor Plumer rode on horseback from Epping to Concord. 
The governor's inaugural address is said to have been very 
eloquent and impressive, and was received both in and out of 
the State with much favor. It was delivered a few days only 
before the declaration of war with England, a measure that 
seemed both just and necessary to the governor. Hall, Upham, 
and Smith were the three Republican councillors, P'ranklin and 
Chase were the Federal councillors. It had been the custom 
for councillors, before this date, to favor their own nominations 
to important offices, a custom which Governor Plumer allowed 
to fall into disuse. His councillors, however, dictated to him 
the nomination of a judge of the Superior Court, against his 
better judgment. 

In July Governor Plumer perfected the organization of the 
detached militia, forming what was known as the Eastern 
Brigade under Brigadier-general Clement Storcr of Portsmouth, 



l8l2] WAR OF kSi2. 49? 

and the Western Brigade under Brigadier-general John Mont- 
gomery of Haverhill, the whole division commanded by Major- 
general Henry Bntler of Nottingham. Fort McClary protect, 
ing the Kittery Navy Yard, was garrisoned by a detachment 
of New Hampshire troops under Timothy Upham of Ports- 
mouth, who had been commissioned major in the regular army, 
— a timely precaution, for British vessels were cruising off the 
coast and had even entered the outer harbor. So great was the 
alarm that the women and children and valuables of every kind 
were sent from Portsmouth into the interior for safety. The 
force of militia not only allayed these fears, but prevented illicit 
commerce with the enemy, who paid good prices for fresh 
provisions. This trade is supposed to have been carried on by 
the citizens of Vermont and Maine. 

The seat of war, aggravated by the horrors of Indian atroci- 
ties, was along our northern and western frontiers. There 
Colonel James Miller of Temple was doing good service in the 
neighborhood of Detroit. 

At the presidential election in the fall Madison was re-elected 
by Southern and Western votes, receiving none north of Penn- 
sylvania except six given by the legislature of Vermont at a time 
when the people would have given them to Clinton. In regard 
to national issues at this time, as John Quincy Adams said, 
"the two great parties had crossed over the valley and taken 
possession of each other's mountain." The course pursued by 
the leading Federalists at this time, in associating the defeat of 
an American by a British force as the overthrow of their adver- 
saries, identified them in the popular estimation with the ene- 
mies of their country and led to the final disruption of their 
party. Many worthy citizens were seen to rejoice over British 
victories, and to mourn over those of their own country, as, half 
a century later, many conducted themselves during the Rebellion. 

1 At the November session of the legislature the governor's 
address was mainly devoted to the subject of the war then pro- 
gressing. He was in harmony with the administration, unlike 
the chief-magistrates of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Both 

■ William PUimer. Jr. 



492 



HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[i8i; 



Houses returned answers to the speech, approving of the war, 
and of " the prompt and patriotic manner in which the call of 




the president respecting the militia was complied with." The 
Federalist minority voted against the answers in both branches, 
its chief protest being directed against the power claimed by the 



I8l2] 



WAR OF l8l2. 



493 



president of calling out the militia, and placing them under 
officers of the United States. The majority declared that the 




*Wl(ALR5\cKJflGHT. 



^ war was just, but referred to Napoleon as "that scourge of na- 
tions," and were opposed to any alliance with him. The minority 

necessary, but upheld 



did not deem the war to have been 



494 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l8l2 

the governor in his policy to protect the frontiers. The effort 
to fill the vacancy in the office of United States senator was 
unavailing, as Mr. Sanborn of Epsom, who held the tie vote in 
the Senate, could not agree with his party associates as to the 
nominee. The governor returned one law and two resolves to 
the legislature, with his objections to them, and both were 
dropped. The building of the old State's Prison was undertaken 
this year, and several changes made in the criminal code. Before 
this there had been eight offences punishable with death : only 
two were allowed to remain on the statute book — murder and 
treason ; and the old punishments of the whip and pillory were 
changed to imprisonment in the State's Prison or in the county 
jail. Aside from the militia Very many citizens of the State 
volunteered to join the regular army, or enlisted in privateers- 
men. Lieutenant-colonel Moody Bedel opened a recruiting office 
at Concord in May, and in September sent three hundred and 
ninety-seven recruits to join his regiment, the iith United 
States infantry, at Burlington. The regiment was mainly from 
New Hampshire. 

John McNeil of Hillsborough and John W. Weeks of Lancaster 
were captains in this regiment. In July of the next year the 
regiment was consolidated with the 21st, in which Jonathan East- 
man of Concord was a lieutenant. 

Li November, 181 2, eleven companies of volunteers had their 
rendezvous at Concord, and were organized as the " First Regi- 
ment of New Hampshire Volunteers," under the command of 
Colonel Aquila Davis of Warner, but in the following January 
the regiment was disbanded, the enlisted men being distributed 
to regiments in the regular army. Most of the soldiers were 
joined to the 45th United States regiment, of which Aquila 
Davis was lieutenant-colonel. At the expiration of their term 
of enlistment, at the end of one year, many re-enlisted, and 
the 45th regiment was mainly recruited in New Hampshire. 
The pay of a private was $10, of a corporal ^11, of a sergeant 
$12. 

In December a voluntary corps of infantry was organized, 
composed of such men as were not liable by law to do military 



i8i3] WAR (II' lo 12. 495 

duty, but were to be called on for service only in case of inva- * 
sion. 

' In January, 1S13, Cajitain Edmund Freeman of Lebanon and 




1 lV\r,iit4\ 



k. 



• \ iiwtr '■ 



company were detached from the Western Brigade to relieve 
Captain Mahurin's command at Stewartstown. In April Captain 

» Adjutant-general's Reports, 1868. 



49*5 lllSTOKY OK NEW llAMl'SHIKK. [ ' 8 1 ^ 

« William Marshall's company of "Sea Fenciblcs " was stationed 
at Little Harbor for the defence of Portsmouth. As British 
cruisers were hovering continually upon the coast, the people of 
Portsmouth became alarmed, and in May called a town meeting 
to provide for defence. After considerable discussion their repre- 
sentatives were instructed to lay before the legislature the ex- 
posed situation of the town and harbor. At the meeting Dan- 
iel Webster made one of his characteristic speeches. He said : 
" Talk is not what the crisis demands. The forts near the town 
want repairs, want men to defend them when repaired. The 
government of the United States and the State government 
have been applied to for men to repair and defend these forts ; but 
we know not that either will attend to our application. But one 
thing we do know, the crisis demands labor, and we can labor, 
we can repair the forts. And then we know another thing, wc 
can defend thetn. Now, I propose that every man who wants 
these forts repaired, wants these forts, aye, the town of Ports- 
mouth, defended, appear on parade to-morrow morning with pick- 
axe, spade, and shovel, and that they go to the Islands and re 
pair the forts." The meeting adjourned with a hurrah for pick, 
axe, spade, and shovel. The next morning hundreds of the pa- 
triotic men of Portsmouth gathered upon the parade, and with 
Mr. Webster, duly armed with a shovel, proceeded to the forts, 
commenced their work, and in the course of a few days had com- 
pleted the repair of the fortifications, forts Washington and 
Sullivan, on either side of the narrows. 

' At the annual election in March, i8i 3, ex-governor John Tay- 
lor Gilman was elected governor, and was inaugurated in June. 
The minority of 18 12 had now become the majority. Governor 
Gilman was a patriot and soldier of the Revolution, and conser- 
vative in his views as to the war, although the standard bearer of 
the opposition to the war. No one could find fault with his 
message : — 

" The consequences of the war cannot be foreseen, and thi?re 
are divers opinions respecting the necessity of the war, as well 
as the causes which induced our government to make the declar- 

■ Adjutanl-general's Reports, i86S. 



i8i3] 



WAK (l|- 1,S|2. 



497 



ation. We are bound to su[:)port our system of national govern- 
ment and the laws emanating therefrom ; but this by no means 
hinders the right of free inquiry, or the full expression of senti- 
ments upon the measures of government. 

"It is not doubted that we have had great causes of complaint 




DANIEL WEBSTER. 



against both Great Britain and I-"raiice, and perhaps at some 
former period much greater against one or both of these govern- 
ments than existed against the British at the time of the declar- 
ation of war. 



498 msroKV i)i' NEW iiAMi'siiiKii. [1S13 

" While wc demand redress for injuries received from others, we 
should suitably regard their just expectations from us ; and may 
we not, without being liable to the charge of justifying the con- 
duct of Great Britain, inquire whether they have no just cause of 
complaint against our government ? whether our professions of 
strict and impartial neutrality, in the important contest between 
Great Britain and France, had been constantly maintained ? and 
whether there had not been a manifest difference in our resent- 
ments, and in the language and manner of seeking redress for 
wrongs, exhibiting an unwarrantaijlc partiality for France?" 
This message voiced the sentiments of the Federalists of thai 
day. 

'The spring elections of 1813 were conducted with great zeal 
and vigor on both sides, but with less personal abuse of Governor 
Plumer than in the preceding year. His dignified and impartial 
conduct in office had inspired even his opponents with a respect 
for him. The worst charges against him were his ordering out 
the detached militia, supporting the war, and vindicating the 
national government. The result of the canvass was the election 
of Governor Gilman by a very small majority of two hundred and 
fifty votes out of more than thirty-five thousand thrown. There 
were few or no scattering votes. One of Governor Plumer's last 
official acts was stationing a guard at Little Harbor. His pro- 
clamations for Fast and Thanksgiving were of such a patriotic 
order that ministers in neighboring States, who were Republi- 
cans, read them in place of those from their own Federal 
governors. 

The accession of the Federal party to power was followed by 
a reorganization of the courts of law. An Act of the legislature 
abolished the Superior and Inferior Courts ; turned out all the 
old judges ; and established a Supreme Court and a Circuit 
Court of Common I'leas in place of the old courts. Jeremiah 
Smith was appointed chief justice, and Arthur Livermore and 
Caleb Ellis associate justices of the Supreme Court, able men 
and good judges, whose administration gave strength to their 
party and improved the courts. But the act of the legislature 

■ Willi.n.. I'lumei. Jr. 



i8i3] WAR OF iSi2. 499 

was thought unconstitutional by the Republicans, and next to the 
war most divided the two parties. Twenty-one judges were at 
once removed from office in a way unknown to the constitution 
and contrary to its express provisions, as decided by at least two 
of the new judges. " In the counties of Strafford, Rockingham, 
and Hillsborough the old judges attempted to hold courts at the 
same time with the new ones. In the two latter counties, the 
sheriffs, Butler and Pierce, who were Republicans, took part 
with the old court." Whereupon Governor Gilman called the 
legislature together and removed the refractory sheriffs, and the 
new judges met with no further obstructions. 

At the June session of the legislature, 1813, Jeremiah Mason 
was elected to the United States Senate. The legislature first 
chose Dr. John Goddard, a merchant of Portsmouth, originally 
a physician, a man of ability and high character ; but having 
no taste for public life he declined the honor. The legislature 
next made choice of Mr. Mason. 

Mr. Mason was a firm Federalist, and one of the ablest law- 
yers in his own or any other age. At the time of his election 
he was forty-five years of age and in the zenith of his fame. He 
was a native of Connecticut, a graduate of Yale, and had finished 
his legal studies in Vermont and as a young man had settled 
first in Westmoreland and later in Walpole. He saw an ope- 
ning in Portsmouth and settled there in 1797, soon after marrying 
Mary, daughter of Colonel Robert Means, of Amherst, and at 
once took a leading rank among the lawyers of the State. After 
Judge Smith was elevated to the bench he was the leading law- 
yer in the State. He was attorney-general for three years. In 
1807 Daniel Webster removed from Boscawen to Portsmouth, 
and for the ne.xt nine years divided with Mr. Mason the leading 
business of the State. As a general rule they were retained on 
opposite sides in every important case, until Mr. Webster's 
removal to Boston in 18 16. Their great powers were joined with 
those of Jeremiah Smith's in the famous Dartmouth College 
causes. Governor Plumer offered Mr. Mason the appointment 
of chief justice of the Supreme Court, but he declined the honor. 
Mr. Mason removed to Boston in 1832, where he died sixteen years 



500 mSTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1813 

later. In 1813 Mr. Mason and Mr. Webster were considered the 
strongest men in the State of New Hampshire, for already the 
latter's greatness was beginning to be recognized. Mr. Webster 
had already been elected to the House. Mr. Mason was from his 
judgment and prudence peculiarly fitted for public ofifice in times 
when party spirit ran high. "There was nothing impassioned 
in his temperament or fanatical in his understanding. His 
mind was judicial in its tone, and he had no taste for extreme 
propositions or extreme measures. His self-control was perfect. 
He was no politician and no aspirant for political distinction, 
but he took a keen interest in public affairs and was a patriot 
in the best sense of the word. He reverenced the character 
and the principles of Washington, and fully appreciated the in- 
estimable services he had rendered to the country. Some Fed- 
eralists let their opposition to the war carry them beyond the 
bounds alike of prudence and patriotism, but Mr. Mason was 
not one of these ; nor was his friend Mr. Webster. Their 
course illustrated the proper functions of an opposition in time 
of war, under a constitutional government." ' 

The almost exclusive business of Congress during the winter 
of 1813 and 1814, "was the providing of men and money for 
carrying on a war into which the country had been plunged with 
little of forethought and less of preparation." The party opposed 
to the war, though weak in numbers, was powerful in ability and 
influence ; but the force of the opposition was not so great a 
difficulty in carrying on the war as was the cold and languid sup- 
port of its friends. It was in truth a politicians' war, and the 
popular heart neverwas for it or in it. That intense public spirit 
which, during our civil contest, made all efforts easy and all sac- 
rifices light, was wholly wanting. Federalists and Democrats 
abused each other with equal virulence, but the energies of both 
went no farther ; the two nerves of war — iron and gold, men and 
money • — were hard to come at. The brilliant successes of our 
navy had not been enough to counteract the depressing influence 
of the disasters and misfortunes which had attended our arms on 
land ; and a general feeling of despondency and anxiety hung 

' Life of Mason. 



J 8 14] WAR (H-- 1 8 13. 5or 

over the country, and made the task of carrying;- on the govern* 
ment and keeping up the war one of no small difficulty.^ 

In August the people of Portsmouth hecame apprehensive of 
an attack, and were furnished with arms and ammunition by the 
governor. In the west the war was conducted with varying 
success through the year. The retaking of Detroit and Mich- 
igan, and Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie, balanceel 
many reverses of American arms. At Detroit Colonel Lewi.s 
Cass, a native of E.xeter, became distinguished. He was born 
in 1782; at an early age settled in Ohio; and in 1807 was ap- 
pointed marshal of the State. In 1813 he was appointed 
brigadier-generg.1 and later governor of Michigan Territory. 
He was afterwards secretary of war in General Jackson's cabi- 
net ; minister to France in 1S36; United States senator in 
1S45 ; a candidate for the presidency in 1848 ; re-elected to the 
Senate in 185 1; President Buchanan's secretar\- of state in 
1857, resigning in January, i86i. He died in 1866. He was a 
brave soldier, an accomplished gentleman, a true patriot, and an 
able statesman, who reflected credit upon his native State. 

During the year General Timothy Upham distinguished him- 
self as a brave officer during an attempted attack on Montreal. 

British ships of war remained off the coast of the United 
States during the winter of 18 13 and 18 14, their rendezvous 
being at the Bermuda Islands and at Gardner's Bay, at the east 
end of Long Island, while the coast of eastern New England 
was reached by an easy run of their cruisers from Halifax, their 
naval depot upon the coast of North America. 

The attack of the British, in April, 18 14, upon the fleet of 
vessels collected for safety in the Connecticut river greatly 
alarmed the people of Portsmouth, and in answer to their de- 
mands, companies under command of Captains Shackford and 
Marshall were immediately stationed in the neighborhood. In 
the latter part of the month Admiral Cochrane, from his rendez- 
vous at the Bahamas, issued a proclamation declaring the whole 
coast of the United States in a state of blockade, thus including 
New England, before excepted. Forthwith British cruisers ap- 

» Life of Mason. 



502 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l8l4 

peaied in Massachusetts Bay and captured and burned some 
tiiirty or forty coasting vessels, producing great consternation in 
Portsmouth. A demand was made for a force of a thousand men 
for the protection of the town ; and in May Governor Langdon 
detached eight companies of the militia and placed them under 
the command of Major Edward J. Long, of Portsmouth, to de- 
fend the town and harbor. Among the officers were Captain 
Andrew Pierce, Jr., of Dover, and Captain Bradbury Bartlett, 
of Nottingham. 

When the legislature assembled in June, 1814, the governor 
laid before them his doings in a special message ; and a special 
■committee was appointed upon the subjects of the detached 
militia and the maritime defence. To this committee was re- 
ferred the correspondence of the governor with the secretary of 
war ; and the letters of the latter were so objectionable on 
account of their omissions that the committee recommended 
the disbandment of six of the eight militia companies detached 
in May and stationed at the mouth of the Piscataqua. This 
was done because the general government did not acknowledge 
the service done by the militia. Their report was accepted and 
acted upon by the governor. In the meanwhile the greatest 
■excitement existed at Portsmouth. They had been for weeks 
in the expectation of an immediate attack upon the town, by 
the British, whose cruisers were continually hovering about our 
<;oast. Alarms had been frequent as to the landing of the 
enemy, and many of the inhabitants had their valuables packed 
ready for transportation into the interior. After ten o'clock in 
the evening of June 21, messengers brought the intelligence that 
a British force was landing at Rye and were about to march 
upon Portsmouth. Alarm bells were rung and signal guns fired. 
The militia companies turned out with alacrity and prepared for 
the attack. Teams and people on foot, loaded with packages 
and bundles, filled the streets, making with all haste for the 
country. Drums beating, the clatter of horses' hoofs on the 
pavement, the crying of children, the shrieking of women, made 
the confusion Babel-like. 

A martial spirit pervaded all ranks, and they glowed with ardor 



I8i4] 



WAR ()!■ I8l2. 



503 



to be Iccl to the place of danger. In a short time order prevailed 
to some extent and scouts were sent out to reconnoitre. It proved 




a false alarm. From Portsmouth the alarm spread into the inte- 
rior, and great excitement existed throughout the State, not 
allayed until the report was contradicted. 



504 IlISTOKV OF M;\V llAMPSHIKi:. ['814 

In September Governor Oilman yielded to the popular demand 
for active preparations for defence, and detached twenty-three 
regiments of the militia, two days later ordering the entire body^ 
infantry, cavalry, and artillery, to hold themselves in readiness to 
march at a moment's warning. These orders were sent by express 
throughout the State, and were obeyed with the greatest alacrity. 
So great was the enthusiasm among the people that whole com- 
panies volunteered, and a draft had to be made of those wiio 
should stay at home. Sixteen companies of troops from the 
interior were joined to the two regiments belonging in the neigh- 
borhood of the coast, and were all formed into a brigade under 
command of Brigadier-general John Montgomery, and of the 
commander-in-chief. Governor Gilman. 

The detached troops were judiciously posted in case of an 
attack. Forts Constitution and McClary, and Forts Washington 
and Sullivan at the Narrows, filled with regulars and militia, de- 
fended the main entrance to the harbor. A battery at Little 
Harbor was supported by two regiments, and artillery at the 
South Ropewalk, while a considerable force was stationed at the 
Plains to prevent a surprise from Greenland or Rye. All the 
forces could be concentrated on any part of the line of defence. 
Governor Gilman took the command in person, and with his staff 
was watchful of every point and most assiduous in his labors 
■"O prepare a vigorous reception for the enemy. George Sullivan, 
!3radbury Cilley, Edward J. Long, and Daniel Gookin were his 
aides. 

A British officer, after the war, told Colonel Walbach that he 
went up the Piscataqua and reconnoitred the town, disguised 
as a fisherman, to find out the feasibility of an attack with a view 
of destroying the Navy Yard and the town of Portsmouth. On 
his returning to the fleet and reporting that the town was swarm- 
ing wivh soldiers and well defended, the British commander aban- 
doned the project. The danger being past, the enemy having 
withd.awn to the southward, the main part of the troops 
were discharged early in October, leaving a small force as a gar- 
rison "uitil winter. 

In the neighborhood (if Niagara ]'"alls, during the summer, 



1814] \VAK or 1812. 505 

Major John McNeil of Hillsborough is credited with routing the 
enemy at the battle of Chippewa. At Lundy's Lane Major 
McNeil's horse was killed under him by a cannon ball, and he 
•was severely wounded in the right knee, but would not leave 
the field. Here the gallant Colonel Miller, of Temple, when 
■ordered to storm the British battery, replied " I'll try, Sir," and 
in the face of a galling fire, and in a hand-to-hand conflict, cap- 
tured seven pieces of elegant brass cannon and held them against 
several attempts of the enemy to recover them. He was im- 
mediately promoted to the rank of general. In the sortie from 
Fort Erie a few weeks later General Miller again distinguished 
himself, as did Colonel Moody Bedel and Lieutenant-colonel 
Upham. During the year the Americans lost the city of Wash- 
ington, drove the British forces from Lake Champlain, and re- 
pulsed them at New Orleans early the following year. 

A treaty of peace had been concluded at Ghent in December, 
1814, and was announced by special messenger, while the people 
were rejoicing over the victory at New Orleans ; and the news 
•was nowhere more welcome than to the inhabitants of New 
Hampshire. 

' The Federalists carried all branches of the State governmen* 
in 1814 except the Council, in which were three Republicans. 
They re-elected Governor Gilman by a majority of little over •- 
hundred votes out of nearly forty thousand thrown. The pres 
sure of war brought about this result, many Republicans fearinj. 
that if Mr. Plumer was elected he would call out the militia 
The Congregational clergy of New England took an active part in 
politics as they had done from the first, preaching political sermons 
on Fast and Thanksgiving days, and often on other days. They 
had been zealous Whigs during the Revolution, and had been as 
zealous Federalists during the early days of the Republic, their 
assistance being relied upon by the leaders of that party. They 
had given great offence to the Republicans, many of whom for 
this reason withdrew from their societies and joined the Baptists, 
Methodists, and other sects. Mr. Plumer issued a pamphlet 
entitled " An Address to the clergy of New England on their 

■William Plumer, Jr. 



506 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSIIIKE. [1814 

opposition to the Rulers of the United States, by a Layman." 
The work received a very wide circulation in the newspapers, 
aside from three thousand copies of the pamphlet, and attracted 
much attention. Governor Strong's letter inviting New Hamp- 
shire to join with Massachusetts in sending delegates to the Hait- 
ford convention reached Governor Gilman after the adjournment 
of the legislature, and the governor could not convene the legis- 
lature without the advice of his Council, the majority of whom 
were Republicans and opposed to the measure.^ The Hartford 
convention,which met in December, 1814, consisted of delegates 
appointed by the legislatures of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and 
Rhode Island, and members appointed by two county conven- 
tions in New Hampshire, and one in Vermont, and conducted 
their proceedings with closed doors and a mutual pledge of invi- 
olate secrecy as to all propositions, debates, and proceedings, ex- 
cept the final report. The character of this, as well as the boldly 
announced views of the promoters of the convention, left little 
doubt that a revolution was contemplated unless their demands 
were acceded to. Among their claims they wanted : " no natur- 
alized citizen to hold any civil office ; no president to be elected 
a second time ; no State to furnish two presidents in succession.'' 
They provided for a new convention to meet in Boston in June 
following, in case the war should continue. 



CHAPTER XV. 

STR UGGLE FOR TOLERA TION, 1 8 1 5 - 1 8 19. 

The Federalists Disband as a Party — Dartmouth College — Sep- 
tember Storm — Middlesex Canal — Dartmouth University — Si ate 
House — Chief Justice Richardson — Daniel Webster — Baptist 
Denomination — President Monroe's Visit — Governor Samueu 
Bell — Bristol — The Town House — The Toleration Act — Colo- 
nial Laws for the Support of the Ministry and Public Schools. 

pEACEi ended nearly all causes of party differences in the 
State and country. Impressment ceased with the European 
wars, as did French decrees and British Orders in Council, non-in- 
tercourse, embargo, and the war in America. During the war the 
Republicans were said to have been under French influence, 
the Federalists under British influence. One party sympathized 
with England, the other party admired Napoleon. It was not 
until after the 18 12 war that a truly American feeling obtained 
the entire ascendency in this country. 

The Federal party died with the war. It had gone out of 
power in the country in 1801, and its northern and southern 
members had become estranged. It was never a popular party. 
The Hartford convention brought such odium upon it that men 
became ashamed of the name. At the same time the Republi- 
can party lost its identity, having "eliminated some of its worst 
errors, both of theory and practice " and " absorbed into itself much 
of what was best " of the principles of the Federalists. " The era 
of good feeling, which commenced with Mr. Monroe's adminis- 
tration, led to a speedy oblivion of old feuds ; " and for the eight 
years which followed party lines were obliterated. When once 
more parties were formed under the leadership of Adams and 

< William Plumer, Jr. 



508 HISTORY OV NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['8 1 5 

Jackson, " many old Federal leaders were found to be Demo- 
crats, and as many old Republicans took rank as Whigs." The 
old questions had been settled, and the new ones of tariff, in- 
ternal improvement, and the extension or restriction of slavery 
arose. The old party feeling in New Hampshire did not subside 
until after the March elections of 1815, and Governor Oilman 
■was re-elected by a majority of thirty-five votes, so close and 
<loubtful was the contest. During the summer, the trouble long 
brewing in the affairs of Dartmouth College resulted in an open 
rupture between the president, John Wheelock, and the trustees. 
He applied to the legislature for an investigating committee ; 
they, without waiting for the report of the legislative committee, 
removed Dr. Wheelock from his office of president and trustee, 
and inaugurated his successor. Rev. Francis Brown ; and the 
affairs of the college entered into the politics of the State in 
the next election.^ 

"A destructive tempest took place on Saturday, September 23, 1815, and sur- 
passed, in extent and violence, any wind that has blown over New England 
<luring the present centurv. 

The day was rainy, and the wind came from an easterly quarter, we think 
the south-east. In Concord, although, from its situation in the valley of the 
Merrimack, the damage was less than in more exposed places, yet here build- 
ings were unroofed, growing crops damaged, and wood and timber-trees torn 
up by the roots, which, at their present valuation, would be worth many 
thousands of dollars. The rotten trunks of trees blown down in that memo- 
rable gale have hardly yet disappeared from forests in this city; a circum- 
stance to be accounted for in this wise : sixty 3'ears ago wood was of so little 
value that people neglected to remove these fallen trees until they fell into 
such decay as to be worthless. 

' The wind commenced in the morning at north-east. At about noon it 
■changed to south-east, and for two hours seemed to threaten everything with 
ruin. The sturdy oak, the stately elm, and the pliant poplar were alike vic- 
tims to its fury. The destruction of orchards and buildings has been great. 
There is scarcely an apple left on the standing trees. Many cattle have been 
killed bv falling trees. Had this violent wind occurred in the season of vege- 
tation there is no calculating its effects. It might have produced a famine. 

■" Sheds, trees, fences, etc., were blown down, buildings unroofed, and limbs 
and fragments of trees strewed in every direction. It continued with una- 
bated fury nearly two hours. 

• John M. Shirley. " Asa McFarland. 

3 Xrw Hampshire Patriot. * Amherst Cabinet, 



i8i5l 



STRUGGLE FOR TOLERATION. 



509 



'In 1814 the obstructions in the Merrimack had been sur- 
mounted, so that canal boats, lociiing into the river at Chelmsford, 
had been poled up stream as far as Concord. 

Firewood and lumber always formed a very considerable item 




SHOT OF LUMBER COMING OUT OF A LOCK. 



in the business of the canal. The navy yard at Charlestown 
and the ship yards on the Mystic for many years relied upon the 

canal for the greater part of the timber used in shipbuilding ; 




PUSHING AGAINST THE CURRENT. 

and worlf was sometimes seriously retarded by low water in the 
Merrimack, which interfered with transportation. The supply of 
oak and pine about Lake Winni[)iseogee, and along the Merri- 
mack and its tributaries, was thought to be practically inexhaus- 

* General George Stark. 



5 lO HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1816 

tible. In the opinion of Daniel Webster, the value of this tim- 
ber had been increased $5,000,000 by the canal. Granite from 
Tyngsboroiigh, and agricultural products from a great extent of 
fertile country, found their way along this channel to Boston ; 
while the return boats supplied taverns and country stores with 
their annual stock of goods. The receipts from tolls, rents, etc., 
were steadily increasing, amounting in 18 12 to $12,600, and in 
1816 to $32,600. 

Yet, valuable, useful, and productive as the canal had proved 
itself, it had lost the confidence of the public, and, with a few 
exceptions, of the proprietors themselves. The reason for this 
state of sentiment can easily be shown. The general depression 
of business on account of the embargo and the war of 18 12 had 
its effect upon the canal. In the deaths of Governor Sullivan 
and Colonel Baldwin, in the same year, 1808, the enterprise waj 
deprived of the wise and energetic counsellors to whom it owed 
its existence. 

The aqueducts and most of the locks, being built of wood, 
required large sums for annual repairs ; the expenses arising 
from imperfections in the banks, and from the erection of toll- 
houses and public-houses for the accommodation of the boatmen, 
were considerable ; but the heaviest expenses were incurred in 
opening the Merrimack for navigation. From Concord to 
the head of the canal the river has a fall of one hundred and 
twenty-three feet, necessitating various locks and canals. The 
Middlesex Canal Corporation contributed to the building of the 
Wiccasee locks and canals, $12,000; Union locks and canals, 
$49,932 ; Hookset canal, $6,750; Bow canal and locks, $14,115. 

^Before 1816 the quarrel in the management of Dartmouth 
College had been between Federalists and Congregationalists, 
although Dr. Wheelock leaned towards the Presbyterians in his 
sympathies. In the spring elections of 1816 Mr. Plumer received 
not only the support of the Republicans, but of the Federalists 
who were friends of Dr. Wheelock, and was elected governor, 
receiving over twenty thousand votes, while his opponent, James 
Sheafe of Portsmouth, received more than two thousand less. 

* John M. Shirley. 



I8l6j STKUCCiLK I'OK TOI.KKATION. 5rl 

Sheafe had been a Tory, and was imprisoned during the Revohi- 
tion, but had come into popular favor again, and at this time was 
the richest man in the State. He had been elected a United 
States senator in 1802 ; Mr. Plumcr having been elected to fill 
out his unexpired term. The interest felt in politics then is 
known from the fact that the votes numbered one in six of the 
inhabitants. 

Mr. Webster favored the design of creating a " University of 
New Hampshire," to be located at Concord, to settle the college 
quarrel. Governor Plumer proposed in his message a reorganiza- 
tion of the college, thus placing it under legislative control — a 
proposition which met with favor with the great Republican lead- 
ers of the country and was favorably acted upon by the legislature. 
His recommendation to remit ta.xes on manufacturing establish- 
ments, on being adopted, led to a large increase of business in the 
State. His idea of establishing Congressional districts was after- 
wards put in force. The legislature complied with his wishes and 
freely granted charters to all religious denominations ; and re- 
duced official salaries. 

^The most important measure undertaken was the reorganiza- 
tion of the Courts. The Judiciary Acts of 18 13, being con- 
sidered unconstitutional by the Republican majority of the Gen- 
eral Court, were promptly repealed, and the new judges, de facto 
if not dejiire, were addressed out of office, and the same course was 
taken as to the old judges, leaving the Commonwealth without a 
judiciary. A similar course in regard to the federal sheriffs was 
proposed, but not acted upon. The appointment of seventeen 
new judges after the adjournment of the legislature was a diffi- 
cult task, as the governor did not wish the court to be wholly 
partisan, but only one of his appointments offered to Federalists 
was accepted. William M. Richardson was appointed chief jus- 
tice, although the office was offered to Jeremiah Mason, the lead- 
ing lawyer in the State, and a firm Federalist. Levi Woodbury, 
who was then secretary of state and boarding with the governor 
at the house of Isaac Hill, was appointed a judge in place of 
George B. Upham, who refused the office from political motives. 

> William Plumer, Jr. 



512 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l8l6 

Samuel Boll was the other judge of the Supreme Court ap- 
pointed by the governor. 

A little entry in Governor Plumer's private diary under date 
July 4, 1816, " Fixed the site for the State House," is thought to 
be the only record of that important event. In his address 
to the legislature at an adjourned meeting in November he ad- 
verted to it and aroused opposition to himself in his own party. 

"The location of the new State House, whether north or south 
of a given line, on the main street in Concord, was a question 
in which it might have been thought few would take much in- 
terest, except the dwellers on that street. Yet it excited a 
furious contest, not only in the town, but among the members 
of the legislature and through the State. As the spot selected 
by the governor and Council was at a considerable distance 
south of the old State House, the people at the North End, 
with whom nearly all the members of the legislature had 
hitherto boarded, were likely, by the new location, to lose 
thenceforth this monopoly. The clamor which they raised was 
in proportion to their supposed interest in the question ; and it 
was soon found that many of the members were deeply infected 
with the feelings and the prejudices of their landlords on this 
subject. 'Representatives of their respective boarding-houses 
rather than of the State,' as a member expressed it. The spot 
selected was denounced as a quagmire and a frog pond." ^ The 
governor and Council were sustained by the legislature, how- 
ever, and it was afterwards admitted that no better spot could 
have been selected. 

By Act of the legislature Dartmouth College was changed to 
Dartmouth University, the number of trustees was increased 
from twelve to twenty-one, and a board of twenty-five overseers 
was created. Both political parties and all prominent religious 
sects were represented on these boards. The Act provided for 
perfect freedom of religious opinions among the officers and 
students of the university, and was part of the plan to bring 
the institution under the fostering care of the State.^ The old 
board of trustees resisted this Act, and, appeal being made to 

" William Plumer, Jr. 



i8i6] 



STRUGGLE I'OR TOLEKATION. 



513 



the courts, it was decided that the trustees must yield. The 
matter, however, was finally carried before the Supreme Court 
of the United States, where the old board of trustees were sus- 




STATE HOUSE, CONCORD. 



tained, and where it was practically ruled that a legislature 
could not overturn the charter granted by the king — a tri- 
umph for the trustees, but, in the minds of many, a serious blow 



514 HISTOKV ()!■■ NEW II AM I'SHIKE. [1816 

to Dartmouth College, which inissed its op])ortunity to become 
a great university under the auspices of the Commonwealtli. 
Timothy Farrar, and afterwards John M. Shirley, published vol- 
umes on this controversy easily accessible, whik- numberless 
pamphlets were issued on the same subject. 

At the September term of the court, 1817, the case of Dart- 
mouth College was tried before Chief Justice Richardson and 
Judge Bell at Exeter. Mason, Smith, and Webster argued the 
cause for the trustees, Sullivan and Bartlett for the State. " These 
were all members of the Rockingham bar, when it was literally 
' an arena of giants.' Of this bar Judge Story said that it had 
' vast law learning and prodigious intellectual power.' " ' Mason, 
at this time fifty years old, was from Connecticut, but read law 
and commenced practice in \'crmont. " He was six feet seven 
inches in height, and proportionately large in other respects. 
His intellectual exxeeded his physical stature. Webster, with a 
thorough knowledge of the man, deliberately wrote down that as 
a lawyer, as a jurist, no man in the Union equalled Mason, and 
but one approached him." ^ Mason loved his family and the law : 
for the sake of the former he resigned his position as United 
States senator. He was denied the gifts and graces of the ora- 
tor, but this great man "on his feet in the court room was seem- 
ingly an inspired Euclid." ' 

Smith, then fifty-eight years old, was " possessed of great and 
accurate learning, and of great natural abilities, but, like Mason, 
he was no orator." • 

Webster, at thirty-five, the " Great IMack Giant of the East," 
was in full possession of his great powers. 

Sullivan,forty-threeyearsof age, was from a race of soldiers, ora- 
tors, and lawyers. He was for many years attorney-general, as 
his father was before him and his son after him. He was a classi- 
cal scholar, " well read in the law ; an excellent special pleader ; 
swift to perceive, prompt to act, and full of resources. He 
relied too little on his preparation, and too much upon his ora- 
tory, his power of illustration and argument. But neither the 
court, the jury, nor the people ever grew weary of listening to 

' John .M. Shirley. 



l8l6] STRUGGLE FOR TDI.I.KATION. 515 

his silver tones or liis arguments, that fell like music on the 
ear." ' 

Bartlett was from a family " eminent for its physicians, 
preachers, and jurists." He was at thirty-one "indefatigable in 
preparation, eloquent in the highest sense, ready, witty, and a 
popular idol." ^ 

Webster, who had the closing argument, so wrought upon the 
court that it adjourned in tears, and tradition affirms that it was 
the greatest effort of his life. The counsel for the State were 
overmatched, but they won their case. 

" Chief Justice Richardson was a graduate of Harvard, a mem- 
ber of Congress from Massachusetts in iSi2, and was subse- 
quently re-elected ; but, being averse to political life, resigned 
and removed to Portsmouth, in his native State, in 1814. From 
his appointment, in 18 16, till his death, in 1838, he was chief 
justice of the highest court. Physically he was as imposing as 
he was great intellectually. Like Marshall's, his eyes were black, 
piercing, and brilliant ; " his hair was black as a raven's wing. 
He had refined and simple tastes ; he had a full, high, and broad 
forehead. " In learning and industry he ranked with Chief 
Justice Parsons. He was a great and honest judge." He did 
not owe his eminence to subtility in judicial fence. "His reas- 
oning and his heart alike were as open and ingenuous as the light 
of day. He was reverenced by the people of the State as no 
other judge ever was." ' 

Judge Bell, father of the late Chief Justice Bell, belonged to 
i family famous for their talent. He was a graduate of Dart- 
mouth College, and had been a trustee. He was judge until he 
was elected governor in 18 19, and afterwards for twelve years a 
United States senator. " He was a man of immense erudition 
and great business capacity, a thorough lawyer, and possessed 
of great moral courage." ^ 

Judge Woodbury was some years less than thirty at the time 
of his appointment. He succeeded Governor Bell as chief mag- 
istrate. He was afterwards United States senator, secretary of 
the navy, secretary of the treasury, and one of the justices of the 

' John M. Shirley. 



5l6 HISTOKV OK NEW IIAMPSIIIRK. [lSl6 

Supreme Court of the United States from 1S45 until his death 
in 185 1. He was a possible and very probable candidate for the 
presidency. 

According to Jeremiah Mason, "three more men so well qual- 
ified as the present judges, and who would accept the office, 
could not be found in the State." ^ 

The trustees of the college had for a considerable time pur- 
sued a course calculated to render them unpopular with a ma- 
jority of the people. Possessing, under their charter from the 
King, the power of removing members of their board and ap- 
pointing their own successors, " they had confided the exclusive 
control of an institution designed for the common benefit to 
members of a single religious sect and a single religious party. 
Funds bequeathed to the college for the establishment of a pro- 
fessorship had been applied to purposes partaking of a sectarian 
character. John Wheelock, himself a liberal benefactor of the 
college, and the son of its illustrious founder, had' been removed 
by a summary exercise of the powers of the trustees."^ 

" Mr. Mason felt the deepest interest in the Dartmouth 
College case, and argued it with all the energy of conviction. 
In his view it was not simply a controversy between two corpo- 
rations as to which was entitled to certain rights and property, 
but the question went deeper than this. It went deeper than 
the relations between the States and the general government, 
even to the foundations of civil society itself. He believed the 
Act of the legislature of New Hampshire to be a piece of legis- 
lative usurpation, and that the State had no more right to trans- 
fer the property of Dartmouth College to another corporation 
than they would have to take his house from him without paying 
for it, and give it to another man." 

^ Dartmouth College had, in its earlier years, a somewhat re- 
markable and romantic history. Its founder, Eleazer Wheelock, 
was no ordinary man. He was an eminent preacher, a man of 
broad plans, of high enthusiasm, of indefatigable toil, and of 
great executive ability. Everyone of these qualities was put to 

* John M. Shirley. ' Barstow's History of New Hampshire. 

> Rev. S. C. Bartletl, D. D., I.L. D. 



l8l6] STRUGGLE FOR TOLERATION. 517 

the severest test in his arduous enterprise. His original concep- 
tion of an Indian school exhibited well the wisdom of his judg- 
ment, which anticipated the results of the latest experience. 
For his plan was to train Indian youth of both sexes, so sepa- 
rated from all their savage environments as to mould them fully 
into the habits of Christian civilization, and send them back ttv 
their own country, in company with English young men alsck 
educated by him as missionaries, that their united efforts might 
raise the savage tribes "to the same habits of life." There has 
been little advance upon the wisdom of the plan. 

When the Indian school expanded into a college, and caused 
its transfer to another locality, the labor and care thrown upon 
him were enormous : an extended and incessant correspondence at 
home and abroad, the necessity of devising ways and means for" 
every separate part of the enterprise, material and literary, an 
exhausting attention to all the minutia; of business, the struggle 
of a settlement in an unbroken -forest, remote from supplies, and, 
at times, the oppression of debt. 

From Lebanon, Conn., in August, 1770, he pushed his way ta 
Hanover, to make ready. In a short time he was followed by 
a part of his family, who with difficulty made their way over the 
wretched roads in "a coach," the gift of a London friend, and by 
two pupils who came on foot. This company entered a dense 
pine forest, containing " two or three log huts," and no house on 
that side of the river within two miles. They felled six acres 
of forest, and the fallen trees "in all directions covered the 
ground to about the height of five feet." One of those trees,, 
says Dr. David McClure, who avers that he measured it, reached 
the almost incredible length of " two hundred and seventy feet, 
from the butt to the top ;" and "the sun was invisible by reason 
of the trees till it had risen many degrees above the horizon." 
Many of the company at first "slept on the ground vv'ith boughs 
of trees for beds, sheltered by a few boards raised over them on 
poles." Here at once began the labor of clearing the ground, 
of erecting buildings, of digging wells (the first attempt unsuc- 
cessful), and even of erecting a saw-mill and a grist-mil). These 
mills failed to serve any valuable purpose, and "he was obliged 



5l8 mSTOKV Ol'" NEW IIAMl'slIlKE. [1816 

to send a great distance into Massachusetts and Connecticut 
for necessary provisions." Tlie process was often attended with 
unavoidable delays, " the supplies were scanty, and they sub- 
mitted to coarse fare." Dr. Wheelock sometimes conducted 
morning and evening prayers in the open air. He was cheered 
in the first hard winter by a religious revival. The snow that 
lay "four feet deep" did not chill out the warmth of poetic fire. 
We have an interesting record of that early time in a consider- 
able poem written by Levi Frisbie, then a senior in college pre- 
paring for missionary work. The following is an extract : — 

" For now the king of dav, at distance far, 
In soutliern signs drove liis refulgent car. 
On northern climates beamed a shorter day, 
And shot obliquely his diminished ray. 
Grim winter, frowning from the glistening Bear, 
Unbarred his magazines of nitrous air. 
And, clad in icy mail, of rigid form, 
Menac'd dark, dismal days of dreadful storm. 
Forlorn thus youthful Dartmouth trembling stood. 
Surrounded with inhospitable wood; 
No silken furs on her soft limbs to spread. 
No dome to screen her fair, defenceless head. 
On every side she cast her wishful eyes. 
Then humbly raised them to the pitying skies. 
Thence grace divine beheld her tender care, 
And bowed her ear propitious to the pra^-er. 
Soon changed the scene; the prospect shone more fair; 
Joy lights all faces with a cheerful air; 
Tlie buildings rise, the work appears alive, 
Pale fear expires, and languid hopes revive, 
Grim winter's surly blasts forbear to blow. 
And heaven locked up her magazines of snow." 

The poem, which could not have been written later than the 
September following this "grim winter," concludes thus : — 

" Thus Dartmouth, happy in her sylvan seat. 
Drinks the pure pleasures of her fair retreat. 
Her songs of praise in notes melodious rise 
Like clouds of incense to the listening skies; 
Her God protects her with paternal care 
From ills destructive, and each fatal snare; 
And may lie still protect, and she adore 
Till heaven, and earth, and tinu-, shall be no more." ,/ 



l8l6] STRUGGLE I"OK TOLEKAl ION. 519 

The ticlat attending Dr. Wheelock's Indian school, both at 
home and in England, where George III. had been a donor of 
two hundred pounds, created a very considerable competition 
concerning its location, when removed from Connecticut. 
Among the competing places were Albany, N. Y. ; Pittsfiekl 
and Stockbridge, Mass. ; Hebron and Norwich, Conn., and many 
others. Hanover was chosen for several reasons, among which 
appear to have been the feasibility of securing large tracts of 
land ; its proximity to the Indian tribes ; the desirableness of 
furnishing ministers to the new settlement in the Connecticut 
valley, to which Hanover was regarded as somewhat "central," 
and " most convenient for transportation up and down the river." 
Perhaps quite as influential as any other reason was the power- 
ful aid and influence of John Wcntworth, royal governor of New 
Hampshire. The first commencement was attended by the gov- 
ernor. At the second commencement, also, he was accompanied, 
or expected to be, by the speaker and several members of the 
assembly, his secretary, the high sheriff of Hillsborough county, 
the collector of Salem, Rev. Dr. Langdon, and various other 
prominent persons. 

The war of the Revolution made havoc not only with Wheel- 
ock's plans for the Indian tribes, but with the financial condition 
of the college. By a wise foresight, when the charter was pro- 
cured from the King, it had been made the charter, not of an Indian 
school alone, but of a college, and as a college it has done its great 
work. Its founder died, worn out with cares and labors, within 
nine years of its establishment, but he had made it a power in the 
land. For the first thirty years more than three quarters of its 
students came from outside New Hampshire. They were from 
the whole valley of the Connecticut, from Massachusetts, Maine, 
Vermont, New York. Not less than nine or ten younger col- 
leges have since been established within the region fi'oni which 
Dartmouth then drew its students. 

It would take a small volume to trace out the various sources 
of interest connected with the college from its romantic origin 
to the present time, or to do justice to its remarkable work. Of 
nearly five thousand graduates, over two thousand are now living. 



520 HISTORY Ol- Ni;\V HAMPSHIRE. [1816 

The'^e men have come from all parts of the country, and have done their 
work in nearly all parts of the world and in every form of useful activity. 
While some nine hundred of them as ministers have preached the Gospel at 
home, a goodly number, among them Goodell, Poor, and Temple, have car- 
ried it abroad, to Africa, China, Japan, Turkey. India, Syria, Persia, the 
islands of the ocean, and the Indians of North America. They have aided in 
translating the Bible into the Armeno-Turkish. the Hawaiian, and the Japan- 
ese languages. Six of them have been members of the Cabinet of the United 
States, six have represented the government at foreign courts, and a goodly 
number have been foreign consuls. Two of them have sat on the supreme 
bench of the United States — one as chief justice — and many others (26) have 
been its district judges and district attorneys. The college has graduated 
forty-seven judges of State supreme courts (including twenty chief justices), 
more than sixty judges of superior, county, and common pleas courts, besides 
a great number of probate and police judges, one m.ijor-general of the United 
States army, a superintendent of West Point, thirteen brigadier-generals, 
thirteen colonels, thirteen lieutenant-colonels, twelve majors, two adjutants, 
thirty-three captains, and numerous other commissioned officers (lieuten- 
ants, surgeons, chaplains) of United States volunteers. Thirty-two have 
been presidents, and a hundred and eighty professors, of colleges and profes- 
sional schools; twenty-three have been governors of States and Territories, at 
least sixty-five representatives and sixteen senators in Congress, thirty-one 
speakers of State legislatures, and eighteen presidents of State Senates. 

The graduates of the college have been greatly distinguished in the legal 
profession, and perhaps even more so in educational work. Tlie late Dr. T. 
H. Taylor declared that in the latter respect the record of Dartmouth was, in 
proportion to her numbers, superior to that of any other college in the 
country. Her teachers and superintendents have been dispersed through the 
land, and one of her graduates w-as at the head of the Bureau of Education, 
while the two oldest and best fitting-schools of New England (Andover and 
Exeter) have been in charge of Dartmouth men. 

The indebtedness of New Hampshire to its one ancient college has never 
been half told nor understood. About nineteen hundred natives of the State 
have graduated at the college, besides a great number who pursued part of the 
course of study. Far the greater part of them have been young men of mod- 
erate and even straitened circumstances, and probably a majority have been 
farmers' sons. They have come from one hundred and ninety-five towns, 
which contain thirteen-fourteenths of the population of the State, and have 
been trained for spheres of usefulness, often very eminent. Meanwhile the 
college has furnished teachers for the academies and high schools and for the 
district schools through every corner of the State for a hundred years. A 
great multitude of young persons, who never saw the inside of the college, 
have been taught, as was Horace Greeley and Zachariah Chandler, by Dart- 
mouth students. Who has not felt their stimulating influence in the school, 
and the pulpit, at the bar, and on the bench, in the medical profession, and 
through the press.' We can trace more than two hundred and twenty of them 



l8l7] STRUGGLE FOR TOLERATION. 52I 

as New Hampshire pastors (without reckoning many evangelists) of all the 
several Protestant denominations, and over three hundred and thirty teachers 
of academies and high schools. 

Probably more than four thousand winter schools have been tauglit bv 
them. During fifty years past the college has furnished the State eigliteeu 
judges of the Supreme Court, and eleven of the Court of Common Pleas, and 
nine governors. Five of the seven present judges of the Supreme Court are 
of the number. 

But the men of distinction are not, after all, the chief glory of the institu- 
tion. The highest work of the college consists in its liaving trained a great 
host of men of nobly balanced characters and clear-cut intellects for quiet, 
steady, powerful usefulness in every department of life and labor — in this 
State, in the country, in the world. But it should never be forgotten that its 
chief benefits, direct and indirect, have been conferred upon the rural popu- 
lation of New Hampshire. It has taken a great company of farmers' sons, 
like the Chases and the Websters, and other poor boys, and while raising 
them to power and eminence, has meanwhile sent them forth into the acade- 
mies and district schools in every portion of the State to teach the boys that 
could not go to college, and give them, too, the teaching of the ablest men 
the country has produced. For more than a century Dartmouth College has 
thus been the normal school ot New Hampshire ; and no region in the world, 
probably, can point to a more remarkable set of schoolmasters than she has 
thus furnished to the population. 

In this sketch there has not been room to say anything of the brilliant his- 
tory of the Dartmouth Medical School, with its 13S9 graduates, who have not 
only filled the State with the beneficent fruits of their careful training, but 
have honored their noble profession everywhere ; of the excellent record of 
the Chandler Scientific School, founded for "instruction in the practical and 
useful arts of life,'' with its requisites, its aim, and its sphere all so carefully 
defined by the will of its founder, to do a most useful work, as to hold it un- 
alterably to its specific function ; of the Thayer School of Civil Engineering, 
admirably devised by perhaps the ablest superintendent that West Point has 
had, of which the graduates, though few in number hitherto, are making an 
enviable mark ; nor o£ the Agricultural College adjacent, with its excellent 
course of purely English education. They are all doing their work well. 

The elections of 1817 were decided on personal issues. Gov, 
ernor Plumer was opposed by members of his own party ; but 
when the votes were counted it was found that he had a major- 
ity of over three thousand votes. Mason was the candidate of 
the Federalists. In June the new State House was approaching 
completion. Mary Dyer, the e.x-Shakeress, commenced at the 
June session of the legislature her warfare with the society, 
which was destined to continue, with memorials to the legisla- 
ture and publications against them, for more than thirty-five 



522 mSTOKV OF NEW UAMI'SHIKE. ['Si" 

years. She was a woman of great energy and decision of cliar- 
acter, whose " sharp tongue and shrewd wit were more than a 
match for Joseph (Dyer) and his brethren."' 

The adjournment of the legislature was followed by President 
Monroe's visit to New Hampshire on his tour through the North- 
ern States. He received everywhere the most flattering atten. 
tions from all classes. It was the first visit of a Southern presi- 
dent to New England after Washington's tour. 

The party were very favorably impressed with the towns and 
villages on the route from Portsmouth to Concord, and with their 
reception; and no doubt the passage of the imposing coach of 
state was long remembered by the inhabitants as a notable event- 
Quite different was the journey of Governor William Plumer, 
who rode on horseback to and from his Epping home and 
Concord. 

Dr. Abel Blanchard died in October, 1817, leaving the most of 
his property for the foundation and maintenance of a seminary 
of learning — Pembroke Academ\-. 

The new academy building was dedicated to the cause of edu- 
cation in May, i8ig ; the next day the school was opened under 
the care of Rev. A. W. Burnham, principal, and the institution 
was successfully launched on its career of usefulness. 

^ " If one goes back to the year 1755, he comes to the time from which to date 
the commencement of the history of the Baptist denomination in New Hamp_ 
shire. In that year the first Baptist church now in existence in the State was 
formed in the town of Newton, the county of Rockingham. It was a time 
when the ' standing order,' as it was termed, was the dominant religious 
power witliin our borders, and to whose mandates all were expected to render 
obedience. In this organization one finds an illustration of the union of 
church and state. The town, in connection with the church, called and 
settled the minister, paid his salary in money or in those things that he 
needed to supply his wants, built the meeting-house and the parsonage, levied 
the rates upon the inhabitants, and all were expected to pay or suffer the 
penalty prescribed by law. The Baptists in the State, in the last century, 
bore the brunt of the battle for religious toleration, as the records of the 
church in Newton and other churches amply attest. 

" Near the middle of the eighteenth century, a remarkable man came from 
England to our country, and exerted a great influence in the religious world. 
It was George Whitefield, the friend and contemporary of John Wesley. One 
■William Plumer, Jr. = Howard M. Cooke. 



l8l7] STRUGGLE FOR TOLERATION. 523 

of the important results that followed his labors in New England was the 
breaking down, in a degree, of the power of the standing order; and this 
result contributed indirectly to the spread of Baptist sentiments and the in- 
crease of Baptist churches ; so that while in 1739, one hundred years from the 
organization of the first Baptist church in Providence, R. I., there were but 
thirty-eight churches of the faith in the land, in 17S3, or in less than half a 
century, there were three hundred and nine. 

"The brilliant example and great success of Whitefield and his followers 
had taught the utility of the itinerant system of preaching. In our own State, 
several Baptist ministers, at nearly the same time, entered its borders, at dif- 
ferent points, and commenced their laliors. Among the more prominent and 
successful of these was Rev. Hezekiah Smith, pastor of the Baptist church in 
Haverhill, Mass. He made missionary tours in various directions, accom- 
panied by some of the members of his church. In the course of his journey- 
ings, Mr. Smith visited the town of Concord. His success in other places 
aroused hostility to him and his mission, and called for a special warning 
from Rev. Timothy Walker, the pastor, at that time, of the Old North Church. 
This was given in a sermon, afterwards published, entitled, 'Those who 
ha\e the form of Godliness, but deny the power tliereof.' It does not appear 
that Mr. Smith was anywise daunted by this ministerial fulmination ; and il 
is probable his labors in Concord, at that time, were indirectly the means 01 
the formation, some years later, of the First Baptist Church of Concord. 

" Concord, at the commencement of the present century, was a pleasant 
town, with a population of two thousand and fifty-two. A resident here in 
those years passing up Main street to-day, and viewing the handsome and 
substantial business blocks that adorn the city, could not fail to note the 
change which this lapse of time has made in its appearance. A change as 
great as that, however, has taken place in less than eight decades, in the 
opinions and practice of the people in matters of religious observance. 
Within the limits of the city there are now at least seventeen public places of 
worship, representing nine different denominations. But in tlie early years 
of the century, all or nearly all the people of the town met in the same 
church, and listened to the same minister. How famous was then the Old 
North Meeting-House, the place whither the families went up to worship 
on tlie Sabbath. The Puritan method of observance was still in vogue, and 
'going to meeting,' as it was termed, was a universal custom, and one not 
to be lightly esteemed or disregarded. This unity of sentiment and practice, 
which had prevailed from the incorporation of the town, in 1725, was des- 
tined to have an end. In iStS the initiatory steps were taken for the 
formation of the First Baptist Church in Concord. The record states that 
'on the 20th of May, 181S, a number of persons residing in Concord, and 
belonging to Baptist churches elsewhere, met at the house of Mr. Richard 
Swain, in said town, for the purpose of ascertaining what degree of fellow- 
ship existed among them in the faith and order of the gospel, and also to 
consider what were the prospects of forming a church agreeable to the prin- 
ciples and practice of the Apostles of our Lord. After a free and full discus 



524 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['^'9 

sion of the first object before them, the following persons gave to each other 
an expression of their Christian fellowship, viz. : James Willev, John Hoyt, 
Sarah Bradlev, Deborah Elliot, Sallv Swain, and Nancv Whitney.' 

" On the ;8th of the same month, the record also savs, ' an adjourned ses- 
sion was held at the house of Mr. Nathaniel Parker, at which meeting three 
sisters related their Christian experience, and made a brief statement of their 
views of Christian doctrine, after whicli those present expressed to them their 
Christian fellowship.' The next act of that meeting was ' to listen to the 
Christian experience of Mr. Oliver Hart, and to agree to receive him to the 
fellowship of the church when he shall have been baptized.' At this meeting, 
members from the church in Bow were present, by invitation, to advise in 
reference to the constitution of a church. These brethren, having examined 
the subject, unanimously advised this small band of Christians to organize. 

" On the 23d of September, 1S18, a council of neighboring churches was 
held at the house of Rev. William Taylor, and a church constituted, number- 
ing fourteen members. The public services in recognition of this church 
were attended at the Green house. Rev. John B. Gibson preached the 
sermon, Rev. Otis Robinson of Salisbury gave the hand of fellowship, and 
Rev. Henry Veazey of Bow offered prayer. For over seven years this church 
•did not possess a house of worship, but was accustomed to hold services on 
the Sabbath in the school-house, which stood upon the site of the high school 
building. In 1S25 a church edifice was erected, dedicated on December jSth 
•of that year, and opened for public worship in January, 1826." 

"The March elections of 1818 were conducted with much less 
than their usual zeal and acrimony. Many Federalists voted for 
the Republican candidate, others for Jeremiah Smith or William 
Hale. Governor Plumer was re-elected by a majority of over six 
thousand votes over all other candidates." Governor Plumer in 
his address referred to the law for the imprisonment of debtors, 
and recommended its repeal or radical change. The bill for les- 
sening the hardships of poor debtors was passed with the utmost 
difficulty : " and yet it was a few years only before the total 
abolition of imprisonment for debt was enacted with the entire 
approbation of the people." ^ 

At the Republican legislative caucus in June, after Samuel 
Bell was nominated for governor, the majority nominated Gov- 
ernor Plumer for United States senator. At the balloting the 
minority of the Republicans supported Parrott, the Federalists 
Jeremiah Smith, thus bringing three candidates into the field. 
The Federalists gave their support to the minority candidate, 

' William Plumer, Jr. 



J 819] STRUGGLE FOR TOLERATION. 525 

and Parrott wa'? elected. It was understood that the Governor 
allowed his name to be used to defeat Butler. 

In Governor Plumer's diary, under date of June 30, occurs the 
following entry: "The lawyers in the House were unitedly 
■opposed to it [the bill exempting the bodies of debtors from 
arrest on executions issued from justices of the peace]. Second 
and third rate lawyers, as many of these are, make bad legislators." 
Governor Plumer exercised a great influence over legislative bod- 
ies and at the same time preserved his self-respect and indepen- 
dence. He made his appointments carefully, and was very popular 
in the State during a public life of nearly thirty years. He retired 
from office with the respect of all parties and with no fewer 
personal enemies than a man of decided character and fearless 
-disposition would ordinarily have. He lived over thirty years at 
Epping after his retirement, in correspondence with the lead- 
ing men of the party and nation, until he was the last survivor of 
his generation. 

Samuel Bell was elected governor in 18 19. 

^ It is doubtful if any race has done more to fix the character of 
our institutions, to stimulate and direct real progress, and to de- 
velop the vast resources of the United States, than that portion 
of our earlier population known as the Scotch-Irish. Their re- 
markable energy, thrift, staidness, and fixed religious views made 
their settlements the centres of civilization and improvement, in 
Colonial times ; that their descendants proved sturdy props of the 
great cause that ended in the independence of the United States 
is a matter of history. Of this stock. New Hampshire has 
chosen three governors, lineal descendants from John Bell. 

The name of Bell occupies a proud place in the history of 
New Hampshire. No other single family of our State has 
wielded for so long a period such an influence in the executive, 
legislative, and judiciary departments of our State government 
as the descendants of the emigrant John Bell, who purchased a 
tract of land in Londonderry, in 1720, about a year after the 
original settlers purchased the township. His son, John, born 
in Londonderry in August, 1730, was a man of considerable im- 

* John Templeton. 



526 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1S19 

portance, and held many responsible offices. He married and 
had five children, two of whom filled the office of governor of 
New Hampshire. He died in 1825. in the ninety-fifth year of 
his age. 

Of John's children, two died young ; the third, Jonathan, en- 
gaged in trade in Chester, and died in 1808. 

The fifth son, Samuel, was born in February, 1770. He was 
a graduate of Dartmouth College, class of 1793. He was one 
of the most popular public men of his day. In 1805-6 he was 
speaker of the House of Representatives, president of the Senate 
in 1807-8, and justice of the Supreme Court from 1816 to 1819. 
He was elected governor in 18 19, and was three times re- 
elected without organized opposition. In 1823 he was elected 
United States senator,^ which office he held till 1S35. He 
married and had a family of nine children. His death occurred 
in December, 1850. 

January and February, 1S19, were very warm, with very little 
snow ■ — the ground being bare the whole time, and no sledding ; 
all business and journeys were performed with wagons.^ 

Bristol was chartered in June, 18 19. 

It was formed from portions of Bridgewater and New Chester (Hill). 
By the Act of incorporation James Minot, Ichabod C. Bartlett, and Joseph 
Flanders, or any two of them, were authorized to call the first annual town 
meeting in March following. They united in this call, and at the first annual 
meeting, March 14, 1S20, Joseph Flanders was elected moderator, James 
Minot clerk, and Joseph Flanders, Moses W. Sleeper, and John Clough 
selectmen. Ichabod C. Bartlett was chosen treasurer, and James Minot repre- 
sentative to the General Court. The citizens of the new town seem to have 
started out with practical unanimity of political sentiment, so far as State 
affairs were concerned, as upon the vote for governor at this meeting, ninety- 
one ballots were cast for Samuel Bell, five for John Orr, two for Robert 
Smith, and one for David Sterret. The same, or even greater, unanimity in 
this regard was manifested several years later, when, in 1S27, there were one 
hundred and seven votes cast for Benjamin Pierce, and one for Sherburne 
Lock. 

Among the other oflicers elected at this first town meeting were two "tith- 

ingmen." These were Timothy Eastman and David Truel. Peter Hazelton 

was chosen constable. The record of the meeting also informs us that it was 

voted to raise $150, in addition to what the law requires, for the support of 

> MS. Diary. 



]8l9] STRUGGLE KOK TOLKKATION. 527 

schools, $600 for the repair of highway, and $350 to defray town charges. It 
also appears that " the collection o£ taxes was bid off for three cents on a dol- 
lar, by Walter Sleeper." This would be regarded as a pretty extravagant 
percentage in these days, but it must be remembered that the amount to be 
collected was comparatively small.' 

New Chester, which formerly included Bridgewater (the latter 
incorporated in 1788), was granted in August, 1759, to John 
Tolford, Matthew Thornton, and others, hut no settlement was 
made for several years. 

In a case in the Hillsborough court, May, 1803, Smith, C. J., 
by which John Muzzy brought action against Samuel Wilkins 
and others who acted as assessors for the parish of Amherst in 
1795, and by whom Muzzy was imprisoned because he would not 
pay his tax of seventy-five cents t&ward the settled minister's 
salary, it was decided that Muz^y, being a Presbyterian, was ex- 
empt from the tax, since Presbyterians were a different sect 
under the constitution and the laws from the Congregationalists, 
and were to be recognized as such. The judge said that the 
constitution was designed to secure to every man the free enjoy- 
ment of his own opinion on religious subjects. All denomina- 
tions were to be equally under the protection of the law, securing 
to them even safety from persecution. William Plumer was 
early a prominent " Protestant," and freely a legal helper to 
those against whom cases were entered. It was necessary to 
have such a champion, for the collectors of church taxes did not 
scruple in their methods. Barstow, in his "Plistory of New] 
Hampshire," tells of a case in which the cow of a poor laborer' 
was sold at vendue in default of paying; church taxes ; nor was 
household furniture or even dishes exempted from the stem 
parish collector. Acts of incorporation would be granted the 
Congregational church but be denied to other denominations. 
The advent of Quakers, Freewill Baptists, Methodists, Univer- 
salists, and other sects was working a revolution. They entered 
the courts, and could always find in Governor Plumer, at least, 
able and willing counsel in those legal contests. 

In the constitutional convention of 1791 he tried hard to carry 

' H. H. Metcalf. 



528 IHSTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['^'9 

a provision giving full liberty to worship God according to the 
dictates of one's own conscience. But this liberty was not then 
granted, nor, on the other hand, could the opponents of it carry 
a provision to tighten the principles of the constitution of 1784. 
He did succeed in that convention in getting a motion carried 
to abolish the religious test for office-holders, but this failed in 
the vote of the people on it. But so great had become the pres- 
sure from the increase of other persuasions, and the spirit of 
deeper insight, that the legislature of 1804 granted the right to 
Freewill Baptists to be considered a distinct religious sect or 
clenoniination, with all the privileges of such agreeable to the 
constitution. The next year the Universalists obtained a sim- 
ilar recognition, and in 1807 the Methodists shared the same 
favor. ^ 

In 1 8 16 the legislature passed an Act that the property of 
ministers, which before had been exempted, should be taxed. 
The same year Rev. Dan. Young, of Lisbon, a located Methodist 
minister, having been elected a member of the State Senate, 
brought in a bill repealing the old obnoxious laws by which a 
town could vote to settle a minister and then pay his salary by 
taxes ; and in place of that law offered a bill "by which all per- 
sons voluntarily associating to build a house of worship, or hire 
a minister of the Gospel, should be held to the fulfilment of their 
contract, but no person should be compelled to go into such a 
contract." That year he was able to secure only three votes 
besides his own for the bill. The next year the same bill re- 
ceived exactly one half of the votes of the Senate. The third 
year it went through by a large majority, but was tied in the 
House. In 1819, having been sent up again from the Senate, 
the House by a majority vote carried it, and thus the power was 
taken from the towns to assess taxes on all to support the min- 
istry, and relegated to such as voluntarily entered the church or 
society. 

Dr. Whipple, of Wentvvorth, in tlie House, seems to have had 
much to do in framing the bill and in its final success ; so it is 
known in some authorities as the Whipple bill. By the bill any 



iSic.] 



STRUGGLE FOR TOLERATION. 



529 



one, also, could separate himself from any such society or organ- 
ization, or from obligations of the town, by leaving a written 
certificate with tiie clerk of such a purpose, and that he was of 
another persuasion. Men of the old regime deemed it all a re- 
peal of the Christian religion, thinking it meant also an abolition 
of the Bible, and that they might as well burn that book. But 
experience soon convinced them of the great worth to both state 
and church to have them separate. Some slight changes were 
made a few years later in this Act, but none affecting its purpose 
of completest religious freedom. 




SQUAM LAKE AND MOUNT CHOCORUA. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ERA OF GOOD- WILL, 1819-1828. 

Power-Loom at Amoskeai; — Shelbirne — New Hamptom Hurricane 
— Levi Woodbury — Daviij L. Morril — Great Freshet — Mili- 
tia — General Lafayette's Visit — The Farmer — Governor Ben- 
jamin Pierce and F/milv — John Bell — Franklin. 

IVTO single invention, perhaps, has ever wrought such wonders 
in the civilized world as the power-loom. Strange to say, 
it was the work of an English clergyman. Rev. Dr. Cartwright, 
who invented it in 1787. The use of the power-loom was com- 
menced at Amoskeag F'alls in 18 19. 

The Scotch-Irish at Nutfield, afterwards Londonderry, and 
the English at Penacook, now Concord, pressed their claims 
for the possession of the falls as a fishing place. No doubt 
it was a prize worthy of an earnest struggle. Concord claimed 
it under their grant from Massachusetts ; while the Scotch- 
Irish founded their claim on the authority of the New Hamp- 
shire Province. The advantage, however, was on the part of the 
Irish. Their settlement was nearer, in numbers much larger, 
and they had possession. The first settlers in the neighborhood 
came from Londonderry in 1731. No doubt the fishing interest 
was the principal attraction. The shad, the salmon, and the lam- 
prey eel, the last of which the late William Stark so poetically 
eulogized, were the fish there caught. If Stark has not very 
greatly exceeded even poetical licence, we may realize the mag- 
nitude of the fishing interest at that day. He says : — 

" From the eels they formed their food in chief. 
And eels were called the Derr\ licld heef; 
It was often said that their onl\ care, 



iSig] ERA OF GOOD-WILL. 53I 

And their only wish, and their only prayer, 
For the present world, and the world to come, 
Was a string of eels and a jug of rum." 

If all this could be said of the eel, we leave some future poet 
to extol the value of the shad and the salmon. 

Saw and grist mills were built at Amoskeag at a very early 
date, but the first interest of suiificient importance to demand 
much notice was the digging of the canal. This was substantially 
the work of one man, Samuel Blodge t, an officer under Governor 
Wentworth, a keeper of the King's woods, and collector of duties 
on spirituous liquors. He came to the neighborhood in 1751, 
and bought a farm on Black brook, two miles from Amoskeag. 
He was a man of great versatility of talent : farmer, merchant, 
manufacturer of potash, lumber-dealer, sutler in the army in 
the French and Indian war. He went to Europe, and there was 
engaged in raising sunken ships, and finally, after having accu- 
mulated quite a fortune for that day, returned, and in May, 
1794, when seventy years of age, commenced the great work of 
his life, what is known in history as the Blodget canal, around 
Amoskeag Falls. ^ The work, however, was attended with many 
difficulties, and his whole fortune of thirty or forty thousand 
dollars was all expended before it was completed. He then 
solicited assistance from his friends, and applied to the legis- 
latures of New Hampshire and Massachusetts for grants of lot- 
teries to raise funds ; but as late as 1803 he wrote : "It is very 
painful indeed to me to reflect on a ten years' ardent exertione 
at this stage of my life, sparing no pains in my power, with the 
utmost stretch of invention to finish this canal, the expense of 
$60,000 already having been devoted to it, and the work not yet 
completed." 

By continued exertions, however, the canal was completed in 
1807, about the time of Mr. Blodget's death. This work, when 
we take into view all the difficulties connected with the prose- 
cution of a new enterprise, stands almost unrivalled in the his- 
tory of New England. 

It is, however, the manufacture of cloth which noiv distin- 
guishes, and will for a long time to come, Amoskeag. The 



532 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['819 

river here falls fifty feet, and the power is immense. As in the 
case of the canal, it was a single mind that led the way in the 
development of this great enterprise. Benjamin Pritchard was 
here the moving power. We first hear of him as a resident of 
New Ipswich, and engaged in manufacturing there. Machinery 
was used in that town for spinning cotton by water power in 
1803, and was the first in the State. 

Mr. Pritchard paid his last tax in New Ipswich in 1807, and 
in March, 1810, we find his mill in operation at Amoskeag. The 
property was then owned by a joint-stock company, divided into 
one hundred shares. At the first meeting fifty-five shares were 
sold, of which Mr. Pritchard took twenty-five. The building 
which was then erected was about forty feet square and two 
stories high. The only machinery placed in it was for spinning, 
and the only machine then used for that purpose was the jenny. 
This machine was first put in operation in England in 1767, 
and was the earliest improvement in spinning after the one- 
thread wheel, doing its work substantially on the same plan, 
only instead of one it drew out several threads at the same 
time. 

The water to carry this machinery at Amoskeag was taken 
from the mill-dam of Ephraim and Robert Stevens. They gave 
bonds to the amount of two thousand dollars, as the obligation 
reads, to furnish " so much water as shall be sufficient for carry- 
ing an old-fashioned undershot corn-mill at all seasons of the 
year and at all days in the year, so long as water is needed for 
carrying on the manufacturing of cotton and wool at that 
place." For this, they were to receive ten dollars annually. 
Five years later twelve dollars per annum were paid for furnish- 
ing water sufficient to run the Amoskeag cotton and woollen 
mill. 

From 1 8 10 to 18 19 spinning was the only work done there. 
It is interesting to learn how this now simple operation was 
then performed. After the cotton vvas received, it was given 
out into families, in lots of from fifty to one hundred pounds, 
to be picked. This was done by first whipping the cotton in a 
rude frame. This whijiping machine was a unique article, per- 



l820] ERA OF GOOD-WILL. 53J 

haps thirty inches square, across which common cod line was 
woven at right angles, leaving spaces of half an inch ; on three 
sides were placed boards, and the whole raised on posts breast 
high. On this the cotton was placed and whipped with twa 
sticks like the common ox-gourd. This old whipping machine 
operated by a boy, has given place to the picker of our day. 

Some years after the manufacture of yarn was commenced^ 
perhaps because the market was more than supplied, the com- 
pany introduced the weaving of cloth. This was done on hand- 
looms in the neighborhood. The agent of Amoskeag mills, 
Jotham Gillis, carried out yarn for this purpose. It was before 
the days of railroads, even before carriages, if we except the old 
" one-horse shay," and Mr. Gillis, upon horse-back, would ride six 
miles away, with bundles of yarn tied about his saddle. This 
order of things continued till 1S19, when the power-loom was 
introduced, only five years after its introduction into the coun- 
try. The first was put m operation at Waltham, Mass., by Mr. 
Adams, the father of Phineas Adams, the late agent of the Stark 
J^mills. The loom had then been in operation in England from 
twenty to twenty-five years. ^ 

In 1S20 Jeremiah Mason was a member of the House of 
Representatives, and as chairman of the judiciary committee 
drew and secured the passage of a law changing the judiciary 
system of the State, abolishing the Court of Common Pleas, 
transferring most of its jurisdiction to the Superior Court, and 
constituting a Court of Sessions. Early in the June session 
Governor Bell received from the governor of Virginia "The Vir- 
ginia Report and Resolutions on the Missouri Question," which 
he transmitted to the legislature for their action. They set 
forth in forcible and earnest language the doctrines as to the 
sovereignty of the States and the limited powers of Congress. 
The answer of the New Hampshire legislature was written by 
Mr. Mason, and was a masterly treatment of j:he constitutional 
questions involved, ending with the resolution : " That in the 
opinion of this legislature the Congress of the United States. 
has by the Constitution the right, in admitting new States into 

' Rev. C. W. Wallace. D. D. 



5j>4 history of new Hampshire. [1820 

the Union, to prescribe tlie proliibition of slavery, as one of tiie 
conditions on which such State shall be admitted," and that "the 
existence of slavery within the United States is a great moral 
as well as political evil, the toleration of which can be justified 
"by necessity alone, and that the further extension of it ought to 
be prevented by the due exercise of the power vested in the 
general government." 

Hon. Jeremiah Mason was a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives in December, 1820, and while standing in the gallery, 
Judge Nesmith heard him state the proposition that in his ex- 
perience he knew of no little law cases, that all alike, whatever 
the amount involved might be, turned upon the same golden 
binges of justice. And it was sometimes as difficult to ascertain 
the true merits of a case, or trace the accurate boundaries of 
right and wrong, where only five dollars might be involved, as 
where thousands were at stake. The question then pending 
before the House referred to the amount of litigated claims of 
which a certain court should by law have jurisdiction. 

Mr. Mason's personal appearance was very imposing. His 
height was over six feet and six inches. His weight about two 
hundred and seventy-five pounds. His uncommon size natur- 
ally attracted the wonder of beholders. His arguments to the 
jury were never tedious, ahrays commanding their close atten- 
tion, being remarkable specimens of plain, clear, direct, compre- 
hensive, logical reasoning, generally addressed to the understand- 
ing rather than to the passions of the hearer. He presented 
clear ideas «/^/)' and forcibly expressed. He managed well an 
unwilling, untruthful witness. In his quiet and easy way he 
would turn such a witness inside out without letting him know 
what he was about. ^ 

The township of Shelburne, which lies in Coos county, north- 
east of the White Mountains, was chartered by George III. to 
Mark Wentworth, and six others. The date of the grant was 
1 771, and included Shelburne Addition, now known as Gorham. 
It was surveyed in the same year by Theodore Atkinson, who 
spent a number of months in the vicinity of the mountains. 

* Hon. George W. Nesmith. 



l820] ERA OF GOOD-WILL. 535 

The population in 1820, when it was incorporated, was 205, while 
in 1870 it was only 250. 

The first permanent settlers w-ere Hope Austin, Daniel and 
Benjamin Ingalls, who moved there in 1771. The next year 
Thomas Wheeler, Nathaniel Porter, and Peter Poor came there, 
and were afterward killed by the Indians. In 1781 came Moses 
Messer, Captain Jonathan Rindge, and Jonathan and Simeon 
Evans. Captain Rindge is well remembered by the old resi- 
dents in town as one of the most respected of the early 
settlers. 

The early history is filled with incidents of toil and hardships 
which the pioneers were forced to undergo. Mr. Hope Austin, 
with his family, consisting of a wife and three children, moved 
into town at a time when the ground was covered with five 
feet of snow. All the way from Bethel, a distance of twelve 
miles, they walked, Mr. Austin and two hired men drawing the 
furniture on hand sleds, while Mrs. Austin carried her youngest 
child, an infant of nine months, in her arms, with Judith, aged 
si.x, and James, aged four, trudging b)- her side. When they 
arrived at their new home they found simply the walls of a log 
cabin, without roof or f^oor. To shelter them from the rains 
and snows they cut poles and laid across the walls. On these 
they laid shingles, covering a space only large enough for a bed. 
In this they lived until the next June. At the time of the In- 
dian massacre in August, — spoken of in Segar's narrative, ■ — 
they fled to Fryeburg, where they remained until the next March. 

Deacon Daniel Ingalls was well known and highly esteemed 
throughout the mountain region for his piety and benevolence, 
and his death was received by all with sadness. 

His two sons, Moses and Robert, settled in Shelburne. They 
were both distinguished as being kind-hearted men, and a valu- 
able addition to the young colony. Moses was brave and dar- 
ing, and a keen lover of hunting. 

Robert Fletcher Ingalls was undoubtedly the first temperance 
reformer in New Hampshire. He formed a band known as the 
" Cold Water Army," embracing the youth of both sexes, and 
worked for the cause until the day of his death. On the 4th day 



5^6 IlISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l82I 

of July before he died he took part in the exercises, delivering 
an address which is remembered to this day. 

After the unsuccessful attempt against Quebec, in which the 
gallant and lamented Montgomery lost his life, many of the 
American soldiers deserted, and endeavored to find their way 
home through the forests of Canada. Twelve of these soldiers 
succeeded in finding their way to Shelburne late in the fall of 
1776, where they were discovered by a negro in the employ of 
Captain Rindge, nearly exhausted. After becoming recruited 
■ they gave an account of their sufferings from the time they left 
Quebec. They followed the Chaudiere river for a long distance, 
crossed the highlands, and came to the Magalloway river, down 
which they passed to its confluence with Clear Stream, at 
Errol. 

Here they left one of their number, named Hall, too weak to 
proceed farther. Captain Rindge and Moses Ingalls immediately 
started in quest of him, and after a long search he was found 
lying across his gun, near where his comrades left him. He had 
dragged himself to the bank to drink, and, his head hanging 
over a little descent, he was unable to raise it from weakness, and 
so drowned. They buried him on the bank, and, as a memorial, 
changed the river's name from Clear to Hall's Stream. 

The New Hampton Institution has a model location in a 
quiet village, amid New Hampshire hills and rural scenery, 
and among people who fully appreciate the advantages of hav- 
ing a college or seminary in their midst. It was established in 
1 82 1, and soon became widely known as a theological school for 
divinity students preparing for the Baptist ministry. 

In 1829 a female department was added. 

In 1852 the institution came into the hands of the Freewill 
Baptist denomination ; and for sixteen years, or until it was re- 
moved to Lewiston, Me., in 1870, it was the seat of a Biblical 
school. In 1866 a commercial department was added to the 
school. 

The hurricane in the Kearsarge region, in September, 1821, 
was the most destructive tornado of which there is any record 
as having swept over any portion of New England, and, in pro- 



53^ HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l822 

portion to its extent, infinitely more destructive than the "great 
wind" of September, 1815. 

' " About six o'clock, after a warm day, a dark cloud was 
observed to rise in the north and north-west, illuminated by in- 
cessant flashes of vivid lightning. Houses and barns, fences 
and trees, were levelled to the ground and the debris carried 
long distances. Several lives were lost." 

The literary fund, for the benefit of the public schools, was 
established in 182 1, by imposing a tax of one-half of one per 
cent, upon the banks of the State. 

In June, 1822, Hon. Samuel Dinsmoor, senior, of Keene, was 
nominated for governor by the Democrats or Republicans, in 
the legislature of that year ; candidates for governor and for 
Congress being then nominated in June by members of the 
legislature. 

In the winter before the election Levi Woodbury, then one of 
the justices of the Superior Court, was nominated for governor 
by an irregularly constituted assemblage of people in attendance 
upon a term of court in session at Portsmouth. The Patriot 
sustained the nomination of the legislative convention, and 
came out in strong rebuke of this procedure at Portsmouth, 
which really was an open revolt, by so many Democrats as par- 
ticipated in the nomination of Judge Woodbury, against the 
regular nomination of the party the preceding June. But the 
Portsmouth transaction was countenanced, if not shaped, by the 
Plumers of Epping, Judge Butler of Deerfield, the North End 
Democrats in Concord, and other equally conspicuous and in- 
fluential politicians in various parts of the State. Although 
the Federal party had been disbanded, yet thousands who were 
members of it naturally sympathized with any procedure in 
conflict with the Patriot, and, with nearly one accord, went into 
the support of Judge Woodbury, who was chosen over General 
Dinsmoor by 4026 majority in 1823. 

There were jealousies between North End Democrats and 
their down-town political brethren so long ago as fifty years. 
They at the North End regarded those beneath the shadow 

• N. H. Patriot. 



1823] ERA OF GOOD-WILL. 539 

of the State House as desirous of giving law to the Democratic 
party. The last-named men were spoken of as " Parliament- 
corner politicians," a term which included Isaac Hill, William 
Low, Joseph Low, Richard Bartlett, Jacob B. Moore, and a few 
other active and influential men south of the present City Hall. 
Those North End gentlemen of the same party who were be- 
coming, if not alienated from, at least jealous of their down- 
town brethren, and who immediately or more remotely partook 
of this feeling, were John George, Robert Davis, Samuel Coffin, 
Abiel Walker, Francis N. Fiske, Charles Walker, Samuel Spar- 
hawk, and other less conspicuous men. There were also 
Democrats in other portions of New Hampshire who had be- 
come jealous of the " Parliament corner " leaders, and this, at 
first, slight misunderstanding or disaffection culminated in the 
commencement of the journal known as the Arit/ Hampshire 
Statesman, January 6, 1823, a paper that is one of the very 
few which, growing out of a mere feud among local politicians, 
became a permanent establishment. Luther Roby, then in 
business at Amherst, moved to Concord, and became printer 
and publisher of the Statesman, and Amos A. Parker, then in 
the practice of law at Epping, was engaged to conduct it. 

The Statesman of course advocated the election of Judge 
Woodbury; indeed, when it was commenced it was understood 
that a rebellion was on foot against the nominee of the June 
convention. But the triumph of the North End gentlemen was 
transitory, for one of the first important appointments by Gov- 
ernor Woodbury was that of Hon. Richard H. Ayer, of Hook- 
sett, to be sheriff of the newly formed county of Merrimack. 
This was a suitable selection — fitness being the standard — but 
one which created disappointment, indeed displeasure, through- 
out the ranks of those 'by whose votes Judge Woodbury was 
made governor. Mr. Ayer was brother-in-law of Mr. Hill, and 
exerted all his power to thwart the election of Governor Wood- 
bury, who, in fact, by this and other procedures, turned his back 
upon his supporters, and distinctly indicated to them that he 
should henceforth seek promotion in another quarter. He was 
governor only one year.^ 

' .\sa McFarland. 



540 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1823 

Levi Woodbury was the son of the Hon. Peter Woodburv, and was born 
at Francestown, on the 22d of December, 1789. He was of the oldest Massa- 
chusetts stock, being descended from John Woodbury, who emigrated from 
Somersetshire, in England, in the year 1624, and was one of the original set- 
tlers of Beverly, Mass. Peter Woodbury removed from Beverly to Frances- 
town in 1773. His son Levi entered Dartmouth College in October, 1S05. 
After his graduation with honor in 1S09, in September of that year, he began 
the study of law at Litchfield, Conn., pursuing it at Boston, Exeter, and 
Francestown; and in September, 1812, commenced practice in his native vil- 
lage. He soon obtained a high rank at the bar, with an extensive business. 
His first public service was upon his election as clerk of the Senate of New 
Hampshire in June, 1816. In December of the same year he received the ap- 
pointment of judge of the Supreme Court of the State ; and in the discharge 
of the duties of his position was seen the inherent force of his abilities, 
aided by his constant and never-ceasing habits of application. 

In June, 1S19, he married Elizabeth W. Clapp, of Portland, and, re- 
moving to Portsmouth soon after, except when absent on public duties re- 
sided in that city. In March, 1823, he was chosen governor of New Hamp- 
shire, and re-elected in 1S24. 

In 1825 he was chosen one of the representatives from Portsmouth in the 
legislature, and elected speaker upon the assembling of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. This was his first seat in any deliberative assembly; but his 
knowledge of parliamentary law, aided by his dignity and urbanity of manner, 
served to enable him to fill the office in a commendable manner. 

At the same session he was elected a senator in the Congress of the United 
States. His senatorial term was completed in March, 1S31, and in that 
month he was chosen State senator from his district; but before the legislature 
assembled he was, in May, 1831, appointed secretary of the navy, and re- 
signed the senatorship June 4th of that year, and served till June 30, 1S34, 
in the secretaryship. 

In July, 1S34, Governor Woodbury was appointed secretary of the Treas- 
ury, and served until the election of General Harrison to the Presidency. 
He was again elected a senator in Congress for the term of six years, com- 
mencing March 4, 1841. He served until November, 1845. During that 
year President Polk had tendered Governor Woodbury the embassy to the 
•court of St. James, but the appointment, for domestic reasons, was declined. 

Upon the death of Mr. Justice Story, Mr. Woodbury was commissioned an 
associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and after subse- 
<}uently entering upon the duties of this high office, continued therein until 
his death, which occurred September 4, 1851. 

Judge Woodbury, in the various public positions he was so constantly 
called to fill, showed himself abundantly capable for the discharge of their 
■duties. 

As a legislator he was painstaking and industrious, as a judge studious 
and indefatigable in his labors, and as a cabinet minister comprehensive 
and yet exact in his knowledge of details. His life was one of uninterrupted 



1824] ERA OF GOOD-WILL. 54I 

work, and his death at the age of sixty-one deprived the country of an up- 
right judge and an eminent public man. Of liis children, his only son is 
Charles Levi Woodbury, a prominent lawyer in practice in Boston, who re- 
tains the family mansion at Portsmouth. One daughter married Hon. 
Montgomery Blair, who was postmaster-general under President Lincoln, 
and another was the wife of Captain Gustavus V. Fox, formerly of the United 
States navy, who rendered to the country such signal service by his practical 
knowledge as assistant secretary during the war.' 

In 1824 David L. Morril was elected governor by the legisla- 
ture. He was born in Epping in June, 1772, was educated at 
Exeter Academy, studied medicine, and entered into practice in 
Epsom, in 1793. He commenced to study theology in 1800, and 
was ordained pastor of the church in Goffstown in 1802, but re- 
signed his charge in 181 1, and again commenced to practise med- 
icine. In 1808 he was elected representative from Goffstown, and 
re-elected every year till 1817. In June, 1816, he was chosen 
speaker of the House, and the same session was chosen to the 
Senate of the United States for six years. In 1823 he was 
elected a member of the New Hampshire Senate and was presi- 
dent of that body. In 1825 he only lacked a few votes of re- 
election. He settled in Concord in 1S31, where he remained a 
highly respected and useful citizen until his death in January, 
1846. 

Mr. Mason was a candidate for the United States Senate in 
1824. There was a strong desire on the part of his friends that he 
should resume the place he had formerly filled with so much 
honor to himself and so much usefulness to the country. Poli- 
tics were in a transition state, and votes were determined mainly 
by personal preferences for the four candidates for the presidency, 
— Mr. Adams, General Jackson, Mr. Crawford, and Mr. Clay, all 
of whom were members of the old Republican party. All the 
New England States, New Hampshire included, supported Mr. 
Adams ; and Mr. Mason, who distinctly preferred him to any of his 
rivals, once mare found himself on the side of the majority. 
Eleven of the State senators had been Republicans, and a majority 
of the House had been of the same party. At the June session Mr. 
Mason was the strongest candidate, but the election was put off 

* History of Rockingham County. ^ 



542 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1824 

until the November session. In the meantime Mr. Eastman, a 
State senator and a brother-in-law of Levi Woodbury, had been 
elected to Congress. The House gave Mr. Mason a two-thirds 
majority: the Senate voted for William Plumer, Jr. The action 
of the House was communicated to the Senate in the form of 
a resolution naming the person chosen. The Senate concurred 
in passing the House resolution with an amendment striking 
out the words "Jeremiah Mason" and inserting "William 
Plumer, Jr." Mr. Mason was standing before the fire in the 
Representatives' Hall, and when William H. Y. Hackett, assis- 
tant clerk of the Senate, having delivered the message to the 
House, went by him Mr. Mason said, " Good morning, Mr. 
Hackett, I see you propose a trifling amendment." The Senate 
afterwards voted for John F. Parrott and Samuel Dinsmoor. Late 
in December a vote was taken in the Senate which was a tie, al- 
though seven members had pledged themselves to vote for Mr. 
Mason, and the legislature adjourned without electing anybody to 
the position. Levi Woodbury was elected senator at the next 
session of the legislature, but Mr. Eastman, to whom was at- 
tributed the defeat of Mr. Mason, was not re-elected to Con- 
gress. Mr. Woodbury was at that time a supporter of Mr. Adams, 
but soon became a zealous and trusted adherent of General 
Jackson. 1 

The most destructive freshet in the valley of the Merrimack, 
taking place outside the season when crops were upon the earth, 
was that of February, 1824. It was a complete demolisher of 
bridges, from the mountains in northern New Hampshire, and 
from the sources of the Contoocook river, in the southern portion 
of the State, on to the sea. The volume of water which passed 
down the valley in the rise of February, 1824, was vastly less 
than \\ha.i flowed in any given time in the freshet of 1869 ; but 
enormous quantities of ice swept all before them. Both the 
bridges which then spanned the Merrimack in Concord — the 
"Federal" and the "Lower," as they were called — were de- 
stroyed, as would have been a dozen others had they stood in 
the way of the devastating flood. The facts were these : A 

■ Life of Mason 



IX25I ERA OF GOOD-WILI,. 543 

warm and copious rainfall set in when the ice had not been at all 
weakened by any mild days. It was as thick and strong as in 
January. The warm rain fell upon a great body of snow, and the 
rain and dissolving snow were suddenly precipitated into the 
streams. The effect was speedily seen, as it had been appre- 
hended by men who had long been conversant with freshets. 
Enormous fields of thick-ribbed ice were broken into great frag- 
ments and driven with unusual and irresistible velocity down the 
swollen river. 

Very few general elections take place when a party does not 
suffer because of absence from the polls of voters in sympathy 
with it. In November, 1824, in Concord and Pembroke, men 
enough remained away from the polls to have elected Ezekiel 
Webster a member of Congress. The choice was by general 
ticket, and Mr. Webster needed only about one hundred more 
votes. 

In 1825 there were at least seven if not eight military organi- 
zations in Concord, as follows : One company of cavalry, in 
which were from sixty to seventy mounted men ; one of artillery, 
forty to fifty men ; a company of light infantry, about forty men ; 
and four companies of militia (men dressed in their every-day 
apparel), with guns, knapsacks, and cartridge-boxes. One of 
these last named companies was composed of men residing in 
the centre part of the town ; another, of those in the south-west 
part and Millville ; a third in West, and a fourth in East, Con- 
cord. There was a company known as the Borough riflemen, 
composed of men living in the north-western part of the town, 
including the neighborhood then known as The Borough ; but 
whether all the preceding were then in existence the writer is 
uncertain. 

The fields of Mars, in Concord and Pembroke, where these 
troops made manifest the valor they would have displayed if 
called into the service of the country, are many. The earliest 
recollection of a militia-muster was upon what was known as- the 
lower interval, in East Concord, sixty or seventy years ago. It 
was a notable day. Two companies of cavalry, two of artillery, 
several of light infantry, and ten to fifteen companies of men 



544 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['825 

with arms, but not dressed in uniform, from Canterbury, Loudon, 
Concord, Chichester, and Pembroke, and men, women, and chil- 
dren, upon the ground in numbers greater even than the troops, 
were assembled. The exhilarating effect of the spectacle, espe- 
cially upon young folks, can be readily imagined. ^ 

As the war with England, declared by Congress, June, 1812, 
became a more and more distant event, the military spirit de- 
clined, and those full companies of cavalry, artillery, light infan- 
try, and riflemen, which had made so excellent an appearance 
from time to time on Main street, began to "languish — and 
languishing did die," one by one, until the military organization 
of New Hampshire was virtually dissolved. 

A part of the visit of General Lafayette to the State shall be 
described in the words of his youthful companion. Colonel A. A. 
Parker, aide-de-camp of Governor David L. Morril, lately living 
at a venerable old age, and in the full possession of his faculties, 
in Glastonbury, Connecticut. 

General Lafayette had made a journey through the Southern 
and Western States, and had received demonstrations of welcome 
from everybody. At Boston the ceremonies of his reception 
had been imposing, joined in by all New England ; and he had 
assisted in laying the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument, 
June 17. The governor of Massachusetts had insisted upon 
escorting the hero to the State line at Methuen, where he was 
received by Colonel Parker. 

The party consisted of General the Marquis Gilbert Motier de 
Lafayette, George Washington Lafayette, his son, Emile Lavo- 
siur, his private secretary, his servant, who seemed to be a very 
capable man of all work, the driver, Mr. Nathaniel Walker, and 
Colonel Parker; the equipage consisted of "three carriages, a 
barouche drawn by four horses with flags in their headstalls, a 
four-horse stage-coach, and a two-horse covered carriage for bag- 
gage." 

" We found the scenes on the route in Massachusetts repro- 
duced in New Hampshire ; for at all the hotels, stores, villages, 
and cross-roads, multitudes had assembled to greet him as he 

* .\sa McFarland. 



1825] ERA OF GOOD-WILL. 545 

came. It was in the rosy month of June, and roses were abund- 
ant, especially in and about our carriage, in the shape of wreaths 
and bouquets. At times our carriage became so much incum- 
bered that we had to throw them overboard — in some solitary 
places. 

" Our route lay through Suncook village, at the south end of 
Pembroke. There Major Caleb Stark, son of Major-general 
John Stark, lived ; and as he had a slight acquaintance with Gen. 
eral Lafayette in the Revolutionary war, had written to him a 
request that he would call at his house, as he very much wished 
to see him and introduce him to his family. We called, and on 
introducing him to the general, he seized his hand and began an 
animated speech about Revolutionary times, which did not seem 
soon to terminate. His family were standing on the opposite 
side of the room, waiting to be introduced, but he seemed to 
have forgotten them I was acquainted with the major, but not 
with his family, and could not introduce them myself. In this 
Jilemma the spirited Miss Harriet Stark, no longer able to 
orook delay, came forward, seized General Lafayette's hand, and 
said : ' Permit me to introduce myself to you as the eldest 
slaughter of Major Caleb Stark, with whom you are talking, and 
the grand-daughter of Major-general John Stark, the hero of 
Bennington ; and now permit me to introduce you to my mother, 
brothers, and sisters' — which she did, with her usual prompt- 
ness and energy. 

" When we were seated in the carriage. General Lafayette 
said : ' Miss Harriet Stark does indeed inherit all the fire and 
spirit of her grandfather, and would have been a heroine had she 
lived in the exciting scenes of the Revolutionary times.' 

"Near the close of a beautiful summer day (Tuesday, June 
21), one of the longest in the year, we entered upon the long 
main street of Pembroke. The sun, having moved round his 
long circle in the sky, was resting in crimson robes on the west- 
ern hills, and soon retired for the night. Not so Pembroke 
village ; that was wide awake, and gave the general as enthusi- 
a.stic a welcome as he had received anywhere on the route. 
Sometimes, it seemed, the less the numbers the greater the zeal. 



S46 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1825 

" We had used due diligence and had travelled rapidly when 
not hindered ; but our coming had been so well advertised by 
the well-knpwn Walker, the stage-driver on the route, that it 
was known to all people, far and near. And so it was that we 
were not only detained at villages, hotels, and cross-roads, but 
even at a single cottage. Our approach seemed to have been 
watched ; and, at the report of a musket or bugle blast, people 
would rapidly appear from their lounging places, where none 
were visible before ; and the general must needs pause a mo- 
ment, take by the hand those near by, and speak a few words. 
Infancy and age were alike presented, and the halt and the lame 
were sitting in easy chairs before the cottage doors; At one of 
these cottages an invalid old lady, 'cadaverous and pale,' was 
brought by two men, in her arm-chair, to the carriage ; she 
seiEcd the general's hand with both of hers, and with tearful eyes 
exclaimed, ' Bless the Lord ! ' 

"At Fiske's Hotel, on the main street of Pembroke, five miles 
from Concord, we rested for the night. A large concourse of 
people gave the general a hearty welcome, and shook hands 
with him, and he made a short speech. On my suggesting to 
the most active men that the general had had a long and 
fatiguing day, and needed rest, the people promptly retired, and 
Pembroke village could never have been more quiet. After sup- 
per the general leaned back in his easy chair and carried on a 
long and agreeable conversation with his escort before retiring." 

The next day (June 22, 1825) a committee of the legislature, 
then in session at Concord, consisting of Hon. Stephen P. Web- 
ster, of the Senate, and four members of the House, came down 
in a coach-and-six to escort the general to Concord. Six white 
horses were attached to the barouche, in which were General 
Lafayette and Mr. Webster ; and the procession, made up of a 
long line of carriages, proceeded on their way, being met on the 
Concord line by twenty independent companies of the New 
Hampshire militia, under the command of General Bradbury 
-Bartlett. 

Lafayette's personal appearance at the time is thus sketched : 
" He is now about sixty-eight years of age ; with a fresh and 



i8:5j ^^^ ^^'' GOOD-WILL. 547 

vigorous constitution for one of his years — though it was 
severely tried in the dungeons of Olmutz. He lost all his hair 
during that confinement, and now wears a wig." The account 
closes with anecdotes and reminiscences of the general, and is 
altogether deeply interesting, showing that the journalists of 
that day were as appreciative of a special occasion, and quite as 
sure to seize its salient points, as are those of the present day, 
with all their superior facilities. 

ORDER OF PROCESSION, 

On the introduction of General L.\fayette into the Tovjn of Concord, and 

to the Legislature. 

[Corrected.] 

^"The following shall be the Order of Procession on the introduction of 
General Lafayette into the Town of Concord, and to the Legislature. 

The Committee of Arrangements (consisting of Messrs. Webster and 
Bowers, of the Senate; Messrs. Bradley, Fisk, Peabody of E., Parker of G., 
March, Hayes, Barrett, Webster of B., Rogers of O., Bellows, Baker, Carey, 
Flanders of B., Mahurin, and Meserve, of the House), with the Marshals, 
shall move from the front of the State House at half-past five o'clock on 
Wednesday morning, June 22d. 

Shall arrive at Pembroke at 7 o'clock. 

The Chairman of the Committee will be introduced to the General and 
Suite by his Excellency's Aides. 

The Chairman will then address the General, and introduce the members 
of the Committee and Marshals. 

Procession shall move from Pembroke at half-past seven, in the following 
order : — 

MARSHALS 
_ Rogers. Perkins. Marston. 

^ Com.viittee of Arrange.ments. 2 

I ^ 

^ Chief Marshal Parker. §• 

GENERAL LAFAYETTE "j ? 

And Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. \ ^ 

vj [ (In a Barouche.) J § 

IV/iittetnore. The General's Suite. Darling. 

(In Carriages.) 

Aides of His Excellency. 

Chamberlain. ( Gentlemen of Distinction, Strangers, ^ Chadtuick. 

\ and Citizens, > 

Locke. I In Carriages and on Horses. ) Clarke. 



548 IlISTOKY OF M:w liAMPSIHRE. [1825 

At the line of Concord, the Committee of Arrangements from the citizens 
of Concord will be introduced to the General by the Marshal, and then take 
their place in the procession next to the Aides of his Excellency. 

A national salute will be fired from the military upon the hill beyond the 
bridge. 

Procession shall be received at the same place bv the military escort, under 
the command of General 1J.\rtlett. 

The band of musick shall follow the military escort, and precede the Com- 
mittee of Arrangements; and in this form the procession shall move to the 
north end of Main street, wheel and return down Main street to the General's 
quarters at Colonel Kent's. 

The General shall be escorted in the same manner from his quarters, up 
Main street to opposite the State House, and a national salute shall be fired 
on the moving of the procession. 

The military shall then form a line from the front gate to the Capitol, ten 
feet from each side of the gravel walk. 

Committee of Arrangements will dismount and form between the barouche 
and the gate two deep. The General and his suite will alight from their car- 
riages, the General being supported by Senators Webster and Bowers — they 
will move to the Capitol, followed by the General's suite and his Excellency's 
aides. 

After entering the south door of the Representatives' Chamber, the com- 
mittee will open, the General shall be announced by the Marshal, and the 
Legislature shall rise and receive him. He will then be presented by the 
Marshal to the Governor and Council, Senate, and House of Representatives ; 
after which the Governor shall make an address to the General, in behalf of 
the Legislature. 

The Marshal will then introduce him to the Governor, who will introduce 
him to the Council. The Governor will introduce him to the President of the 
Senate, who will introduce him to the Senators. The Governor will intro- 
duce him to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who will intro- 
duce him to the members. 

When the General shall be introduced into the Representatives' Chamber, 
the Governor will be seated in the Speaker's chair. — the Council at the right 
of the Governor in the wall seat — and the Senate on the left of the Speaker's 
chair. On the right of the Speaker, on the floor, in settees, the Secretary 
and Treasurer, Adjutant and Commissary General, the Attorney-General, 
Judges of the Courts, Senators, and Representatives to Congress. 

The Speaker of the House will be seated in a chair in front of the centre 
division of the House. 

The General will be conducted to his seat at the right of the Governor and 
his suite, to the seat in front of the Council. 

The General will be escorted in the same way, supported by the Governor, 
to the area of the Capitol, where the Revolutionary officers and soldiers will 
be introduced to him by the Marshal. 

He will be escorted and supported in the same manner by the Governor to 
the dinner table. 



1825] EKA OF GOOD-WILL. 549 

From the table he shall be escorted and supported in like manner to his 
barouche — and accompanied in the barouche hy the Governor to his quar- 
ters. 

The military will then be discharged. 

At seven o'clock the General will hold a levee on the area of the Capitol, 
for the introduction of ladies and gentlemen. 

After the levee, the Capitol will be illuminated. 

Marshals Cartland, French, Bell, and Hum will have charge of the State 
House and Yard." 

In 1825 farmers were simply farmers and nothing more. Tiiey 
raised nearly all the supplies for their own tables, and largely for 
their clothing, which was manufactured from the raw materials 
in their homes. Wheat was much more generally grown then 
than now, but not in sufficient quantities to furnish bread for the 
household. Flour was rarely bought by the barrel ; and barley, 
rye, and Indian corn were extensively used. In those earlier 
days flour bread was, with large numbers of families, dignified 
with the name of "cake," and considered a lu.xury for use on 
extra occasions, when company was entertained. A story is told 
in one of the old Rockingham county towns which illustrates this 
fact. A high-toned gentleman, known as the " Squire," called 
at a farm-house one day, on some business, and when he had 
finished his errand and had remounted at the door, the good 
housewife, wishing to impress the squire with the dignity and 
thrift of her family, said to him: "Squire, won't you stop and 
have some flour bread and butter.' " thinking it now too late for 
him to accept her invitation. To her chagrin the doughty squire 
replied : "Thank you, marm, I don't care if I do," and promptly 
dismounted and entered the house. The poor woman could only 
explain that to her surprise she found the flour bread all out, and 
offered him the best she had, some Indian bannock. A string of 
bannocks, eight or ten in number, would be set upon tins in front 
of the fire in the broad fireplace, there being room then left in 
the corner for one to sit and look straight up the chimney into^ 
the blue heavens. There was very little market for farm pro- 
tluce in those days, except in the larger towns ; long journeys 
had to be made, mostly to such as were known as " sea-ports," 

* Copy of official program. 



550 HISTORY OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1827 

as there were no interior towns of sufficient population to be 
centres of such trade. Every farmer kept a flock of sheep, and 
wool constituted a large portion of the clothing. It was carded, 
Spun, and woven at home, and made into garments for both sexes. 
The best clothes for men and boys were made of what was 
called "fulled cloth." This was made at home, of the finest 
material, and taken to the mills known as "fulling-mills," where 
it was put through a process of thickening, dyeing, and finishing. 
The women used to wear gowns of cloth which was called 
"pressed woollen." This was simply home-made flannel, taken 
to the mills above-named and pressed so as to present a glossy 
surface. 

Every farmer had a small patch of fla.x. This was pulled and 
spread out in rows on the ground, " rotted " and then " broken " 
and " swingled," and was prepared for the combing, carding, and 
the " little wheel," as the machine was called, on which the flax 
was spun, to distinguish it from the larger machine for spinning 
wool. It was woven into cloth for table covers, towelling, sheet- 
ing, and sliirting. The " tow," which was the coarse portion 
combed out on the "hatchel," was spun into a coarse yarn, of 
which a cloth was made for summer suits for men and boys. 
The tow shirt, so commonly worn, was, when new, an instrument 
of torture to the wearer, as it was full of prickling spines left 
from the woody part of the stalk. 

Benjamin Pierce was elected governor in 1827. He was born 
.n Chelmsford in December, 1757. 

Two days after the encounter between the patriots and the 
British soldiers at Lexington, Benjamin Pierce, then eighteen 
years old, was holding the plough in his uncle's field in- Chelms- 
ford when the news of that event arrived. He immediately left 
the plough, took his uncle's gun and equipments, and started for 
Boston. There he enlisted ; was present at the battle of Bun- 
ker Hill, remained in the service during the war, and was on the 
staff of George Washington until the final disbandment of the 
American army at West Point in 1784. He settled in Hills- 
borough in 1786, and earnestly engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
He took great interest in military affairs, holding offices in the 



1827] EKx\ Ul' C.OOD-WILL. 551 

militia from colonel to general of brigade. In 1798 he refused 
a colonel's commission in the regular army. He was also 
called upon to fill many political offices, such as representative, 
counsellor, and presidential elector. He finally was chosen gov- 
ernor of New Hampshire in 1827-9. His public services in one 
capacity and another extended over fifty years. At his death, 
which took place in April, 1839, ^•"'^ when in his eighty-second 
year, he was vice-president of the Society of the Cincinnati. 
He was patriotic, brave, noble-minded, and charitable ; a bene- 
factor to his country, and a blessing to his State and society, — 
and no one memory associated with the past history of Hillsbor- 
ough brings up higher feelings of respect and veneration than 
that of General Benjamin fierce. 

'When high sheriff of Hillsborough county his duties called him at one 
time to Amherst, where he found, imprisoned in tlie jail, three Revolutionary 
soldiers. Interesting himself in their behalf he learned the prisoners had 
served their country well and faithfully — had honorable discharges, but at 
the close of the Revolution, like hundreds of their comrades, were penniless. 
They had, after long and weary days of travel, reached their homes, where 
a merciless creditor secured their arrest and imprisonment for debt. Ascer- 
taining these facts, he instantly discharged their liability, and, taking the 
keys from the jailor, unlocked the prison doors, and, leading the old veterans 
from confinement, pointing to the blue sky above them said: "Go, breathe 
the free air! There can be no true republican liberty when such men as you 
are consigned to prison for such a cause." 

The Pierce mansion in Hillsborough stands in the midst of grounds which 
in former years were laid out with elegant taste, and embellished with fruit 
trees and shrubbery. Several handsome, stately trees embower the venerable 
roof. Around the front side of the building extends a broad and generous 
piazza. Surely none ever gave a more genial welcome. 

The founder of this mansion was a great man in his day, and with but one 
exception was probably the most popular governor ever elected in New 
Hampshire. Even to-day, after the lapse of forty years, his verv name 
touches the heart almost to a burst of enthusiasm. His personal appearance, 
as it has been preserved by the portraits on the walls of the mansion and in 
the State House at Concord, is indicative of the man. There is something 
of the look of a Jackson in that face. The jaws have the same lion-like solidity, 
the lips are firm, and the nose identical with that same feature which we 
observe in the portrait of the hero of the hermitage, but the eyes have a merry 
gleam, and the rubicund visage and the thick-set, portly figure tell more 
plainly than words can of the frank, fearless, good natured, good living, hos- 
' Fred Myrrni Colby. 



552 HISTOKV OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['82/ 

pitable .squire, whoso name could rallv more \ oters to the polls than that of 
anv other man in the State, after John T. Gilnian. 

Grand as the house is, one would hardly think that it had been the scene of 
so much romance and glory. Yet tliere is no dwelling within our State that 
can evoke more significant associations than does this rural mansion. Here 
dwelt the embryo statesman and president, Franklin Pierce, son of Governor 
Pierce, through all his boyhood days. Out of" these windows looked the eyes 
that were to gaze on the splendors of the White House, and the varied scenes 
of foreign lands. In this very yard rang the voice which was to stir listening 
senates with its tones. Around this place centres all of the associations con- 
nected with his youthful years. Here was the theatre of his early sports, 
here his school-d.ays began, here he had his first visions of future eminence, 
or of the possibility of it. Through this very door he passed with his college 
honors upon him, the friend of Stowe, of Hawthorne, of Longlellow, and 
others equally known to fame. Here, also, he came with the trappings of 
state upon him, surrounded by a galaxy of the noblest Americans. Great 
'men, statesmen, writers, divines, and soldiers have been domiciled under this 
roof. Nearly all of the leading men of New Hampshire, for fifty years, vis- 
ited at Squire Pierce's house. Isaac Hill, the Athertons, Ebenezer Webster, 
^udge Woodbury, John T. Gilman, Samuel Bell, and Governor Steele were 
"iiore than once guests of the governor. And, afterwards, Hawthorne, Dr. 
■\ppleton, the McNiels, and others came to see the young lawyer, their friend, 
.'ohn McNiel, in particular, was often a visitor there, coming every Sunday 
night to pay his addresses to a certain staid, beautiful maid, who afterwards 
became his wife. 

The school system of the State was entirely reorganized in 1827. 
The law jDrovided for the election of a superintending school 
committee, who were required to examine and license teachers, 
visit and inspect schools, to select school-books, and report in 
writing upon the condition of the schools at the annual town- 
meeting. They were empowered to withdraw certificates and 
dismiss teachers and scholars, and they were allowed pay for ser- 
vices rendered. District or prudential committees were consti- 
tuted the legal agency to hire teachers, to provide board for the 
teacher, fuel, and to repair and take care of the school-house. 
The inhabitants of a district were authorized to raise money by 
ta.\ to build and repair the school-houses.^ 

November 9, 10, 11, 1827, were three of the coldest days ever 
known at the time of year. The Merrimack river froze over. 

The election in the year 182S resulted in the choice of John 
Bell of Chester for governor. He was a brother of Governor 

■J"'.>nM. Shirley. 



1 828] ERA OF GOOn-^VlLL. 553 

Samuel Bell, and the father of Governor Cliarles M. Bell. He 
was born in July, 1765, was educated in Londonderry, and com- 
menced business by engaging in the Canadian trade, occasioning 
frequent journeys to the business centres of that province, which 
with the slow transit of those days was no light task. Later he 
established business in Chester, where he continued to reside till 
his death in 1836. He had an active interest in politics, and in 
18 17 was elected a member of the Executive Council, to which 
he was four times re-elected. In 1823 he was appointed high 
sheriff of Rockingham county. He was elected governor, in 
1828, at a time when the contending political interests took 
sides with the rival candidates for the presidency, Jackson and 
Adams, discarding old party ties and names. Mr. Bell was a 
staunch supporter of Adams. The struggles for supremacy be- 
tween the adherents of Adams and Jackson were more bitter 
than those between the old parties, and the factions were so 
evenly matched in numbers that candidates for office had to be 
selected with wise discrimination. 

In the summer of 1828 Mr. Mason was chosen president of 
the branch bank of the United States at Portsmouth, and insti- 
tuted many reforms in the management of the institution. 

The town of Franklin was incorporated December 24, 1828. 
The territory of the town was formerly in the towns of Salis- 
bury, Andover, Sanbornton, and Northfield, and, prior to 1823, 
in the three counties of Hillsborough, Rockingham, and Strafford, 
which joined near where the Pemigewasset and Winnipiseogee 
unite to form the Merrimack river, and where the present thriv- 
ing village of Franklin is located. 

In the summer of 1748 the first settlement of the town was 
made in the neighborhood of the Webster place : a fort was built, 
and occupied four months. Upon the withdrawal of the garri- 
son to the lower settlements, Philip Call and his son Stephen 
remained, and thus became the first permanent residents of the_ 
town. In 1749 ^^'^^ Masonian proprietors granted the town as 
Stevenstown. Nathaniel Maloon and Sinkler Bean were the 
first settlers in the western part of the town, residing on the 
Blackwater, on the South Road, so called. In 1754 the former, 



554 HisTOKV 01- m:\v HAMrsniKE. [1828 

witl; his wife and three children, were taken captives to Canada 
by Indians and disposed of to the French, with whom they 
remained for several years. Call's wife was killed by the 
Indians in August, 1754. Her husband witnessed the event 
while hidden, unarmed, in the bushes. Her daughter-in-law, 
with her grand-child, escaped death by concealment in the 
chimney. Her descendants are among the residents of the 
town to this day. Peter and John Bovven settled on the " Bur- 
leigh place," about 1748. John Webster and Ebenezer Web- 
ster, cousins, settled in the town, 1759-60; the former was a 
settler in Boscawen in 1754. The latter was the father of 
Ezekiel and Daniel Webster. They built a grist-mill on French 
brook, near the Shaw place. The earliest tombstone preserved 
in town is in the lower graveyard near the Webster place, and 
is to commemorate one Ephraim Collins who died in 1767, after 
a residence in town of at least fifteen years. Jacob Morrill, 
Tristan Quimby, and Benjamin Sanborn were among the early 
settlers of the lower village. 

Aside from the grist-mill and one house there was no settle- 
ment in the present upper village until after the Revolution. 

Ebenezer Eastman may be called the father of the village. 
He came from Concord in the year 1790, at the age of twenty- 
seven. He possessed property, ability, and enterprise. He 
built a saw-mill, kept a tavern, conducted a farm, and was exten- 
sively engaged in lumbering. The " Webster House " was his 
old homestead. He owned several hundred acres of land in the 
vicinity. He died in 1833 in the brick house south of Judge 
Nesmith's. Several families followed Mr. Eastman's lead, and 
so the village was started. 

Hon. Geo. W. Nesmith has been identified with the town 
since 1822. He was born in Antrim, in October, 1800. He pur- 
sued his preparatory studies with Rev. John M. Whitton, Daniel 
M. Christie, and Henry Cummings, graduated from Dartmouth 
College, class of 1820, read law with Parker Noyes of Sal- 
isburv in the same office where Daniel Webster studied, taught 
school for a short time in Concord and in Bradford, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1825. Judge Nesmith has always 



i828] 



ERA OF GOOD-WILL. 



555 



been an honored citizen of Franklin, and has represented the 
town many years in the legislature. He was for a long time 
justice of the Supreme Court, and is now a trustee of Dartmouth 
College. 

One of the most affable and genial gentlemen of the old school 
is Judge Nesmith. His years sit lightly upon him. An honor- 
able man, a just judge, a kindly neighbor, a good citizen, and a 
ripe scholar, he can calmly sit in his well-appointed libarry, sur- 
rounded by his well-loved books and mementoes of the past, and 
review a well-spent life crowned with honors. He is of Scotch- 
Irish descent. 




MOUNT CARTER, FROM GORHAM. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS, 1828- 1840. 

Journey from New Hampshire to Philadelphia — War against 
Turnpikes — Matthew Harvey — Concord — Canal and River Navi- 
gation — Samuel Dinsmoor — Visit of Andrew Jackson — Murder 
IN Pembroke — New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane — William 
Badger — Nathaniel P. Rogers — ^Parker Pillsbury — Railroads 
— Isaac Hill — Surplus Revenue — Judge Boswell Stevens — End 
OF Turnpikes — John Page — Edmund Burke — James Wilson — East- 
ern Railroad. 

'T^HE 1 active business man of the present day scarcely realizes 
the advances that have been made during the last half century 
in facilities for travel and transportation. So accustomed has 
he become to the easy transition, in a single night, by palace 
car, or by more palatial steamer, from his place of business, in 
almost any of the southern New Hampshire cities or towns, to 
the great commercial centres of New York or Philadelphia, that 
such a magical annihilation of time and space seems to him as 
much a matter of course as the rising and setting of the sun. 

In the year 1828 the late Frederick G. Stark resided in Man- 
chester, and kept a country store near the site of the present 
city. He was also superintendent of the old Amoskeag Canal. 
His goods were bought in Boston, and two or three trips a year 
to the " New England Metropolis " comprised the extent of his 
customary travel. But occasionally his affairs required a more ex- 
tended journey, and being a man of method and close observation, 
he was in the habit of noting down what he saw when travelling 
out of his usual course. His journal, written during a journey 

* Gen. George Stark. 



1 828] TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 557 

from Manchester to the "City of Brotherly Love," before the 
davs of railroads, has been preserved, and reads as follows : — 

Saturdav, October 4, 1S2S. Left home at about nine a.m.; passed across 
the Amoskeag Falls with my brother Charles, who went with me to help 
carry my trunk; had with me a change of clothing, and just a thousand 
dollars in money ; went to Amoskeag Hotel and waited for the stage, which 
came along in about half an hour, and I got on board of it and proceeded to 
Boston, where I arrived about eight o'clock in the evening. 

Tuesday, October 7. Took the Providence stage at five o'clock in the 
morning, and arrived at Providence between eleven and twelve, and went 
directly on board the steamboat Chancellor Livingston, and soon after twelve 
left the wharf for Newport and New York. Arrived at Newport about half 
past three, and took in more passengers, making in all about a hundred; left 
the wharf in about half an hour, and proceeded on for New York. Wind 
strong ahead ; at sunset we were in the open sea north-west from Block Island, 
which was just in sight, and a heavy sea was going, which pitched and rolled 
the boat so that few of the passengers walk the deck without staggering and 
stumbling. 

Wednesday, October S, 1S2S. Got up this morning at six o'clock. Wind 
blew hard all night, and been in heavy sea all night; the vessel rolled and 
pitched exceedingly, but the wind has abated some and the water is not so 
rough, we having got into Long Island Sound. We arrived at New York 
about nine in the evening. I and two other gentlemen went to a Mrs. John- 
son's in Pearl street, and put up; had a pretty comfortable night's lodging. 

Tkursdav, October g, iS>S. Walked out in the morning before breakfast, 
to take a peep at the famous city of New York, and returned to Mrs. Johnson's 
to breakfast. After breakfast went to the landing place of the Union line 
steamboats to engage passage to Philadelphia; wrote a letter to brother John 
and put it into the post-office; went back to Mrs. Johnson's, paid my bill of 
entertainment, and got a porter to carry my trunk to the landing, and went 
on board steamboat Bellona, bound for New Brunswick, where we arrived 
about four or five o'clock, and took stages for Princeton and Trenton. We 
arrived at Trenton about nine o'clock, where we took supper and lodging, for 
which they charged 75 cents, besides paying the boot blacker in the morning. 
About four o'clock, Friday morning, we were called up to go on board the 
steamboat for Philadelphia, and arrived at destination about nine o'clock. 

^The twenty years after the opening of the fourth New Hamp- 
shire turnpike wrought a marked change along the line and 
with the travelling public. Those who had little public spirit, 
and sought to get along in the world by paying as little as pos- 
sible, regarded the toll gate as a bar to progress, a restriction 
upon individual liberty, and a clog upon the inalienable rights of 

* John M. Shirley. » 



55^ HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1S3O 

men. The tavern-keepers, with their retainers and dependants, 
who wielded a great deal of influence, felt that a free road would 
bring a large increase of public travel and consequent profits to 
their pockets. The general public felt that the corporation was 
made up of a few men, some of whom had acquired blocks of 
stock at low prices and summed up their opposition in the 
ugly word monopoly. A war was made upon the turnpikes such 
as afterwards in a more limited form fell upon the toll bridges. 
The result was that on January 23, 1829, the Grafton turnpike, 
in law, was made a free road. 

^Matthew Harvey was elected governor in 1830, defeating 
Timothy Upham. He was born in Sutton, in June, 1781. He 
was a son of Matthew and Hannah (Sargent) Harvey. He pre- 
pared for college under the tuition of the Rev. Samuel Wood, 
D. D., of Boscawen. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 
the class of 1806. He studied law with John Harris, of Hop- 
kinton, and was admitted to the bar in 1809. He then opened 
an office in Hopkinton, and began his professional career. Pos- 
sessed of merit and capacity, he rose to distinction ; endowed 
with certain temperamental characteristics, he became a promi- 
nent leader in Republican, or Democratic, politics. In a special 
sense he became an eminently popular public official. 

In 1800 the town of Hopkinton was in a prosperous and 
thriving condition. Its population was increasing. It kept on 
increasing for at least thirty more years. Hopkinton, during a 
considerable portion of this time, was a town of public distinc- 
tion and celebrity. It was a centre of commercial, judicial, po- 
litical, and social activity and enterprise. Its influence was felt 
in every department of the Commonwealth. Besides, in 1800, 
the conditions of political classification in Hopkinton differed in 
no material respect from those of the rest of the State. Conse- 
quently, in 1804, when the tide of political favor was turning to- 
wards Republicanism, the public position of Hopkinton made it 
a favorable field for the location of some individual of political 
ambition, who might improve the opportunity of the flooding 
tide of Republicanism to ride on to fortune. The opportunity 

■ C. C. Lord. 



1830] TURNPIKES, CANALS, KAILROADS. 559 

witnessed the aspirant. The right man appeared. His name 
was Matthew Harvey. 

Matthew Harvey was many years in office. He was tfie incumbent of 
smaller as well as of greater offices. He was moderator of Hopkinton's an- 
nual town meeting from 1S26 to 1S28; also in 1S33 ^"'^ 1S34.; again in 1840 
and 1841; and finally from 1S45 to 1S50. He represented the town in the 
State legislature from 1S14 to i8;o, and was speaker of the House the last 
three jears; he was a member of the national House of Representatives from 
1S21 to 1-825, and afterwards in the State Senate three 3'ears, being president 
the last two ; and a member of the New Hampshire executive council in 1828 
and 1S29. 

In politics Matthew Harvey represented the reactive element in govern- 
ment. In the position of a political leader, it was but natural that he should 
at times exhibit the tendency to outward indifference to formalism so natural 
to his political clan. It has been told of him that, being chosen to his fre- 
quent office of moderator of town meeting, instead of saying to the voters of 
the town, "You will now please forward your ballots for town clerk," he 
would sometimes sa}', — "You will now please forward your ballots for Joab 
Patterson for town clerk." In fact, it was a small perversion of formalities. 
Joab Patterson was a popular town clerk, and was frequently re-elected. 

In personal stature Matthew Harvey was of medium height 
and proportions, and erect. In style he was tidy, dignified, and 
gentlemanly. In social nature he was generous, kind, and sym- 
pathetic ; in moral character honest and truthful ; in religious 
life fervent and liberal. His whole personal identity partook 
more of the ideal than of the actual, though he was not so ideal 
as to be impractical. 

In 1850 Matthew Harvey moved to Concord, where he died 
m 1866. 

^In 1830 Concord contained three thousand seven hundred 
inhabitants. It was the shire town of the county and capital 
of the State. A flourishing village was rapidly growing. There 
were seven printing offices ; three political newspapers pub- 
lished ; and in the village eight attorneys at law and five physi- 
cians. The field for a pastor was large and the labor abundant, 
among a people distinguished for industry and morality. There 
were three other churches, besides an occasional gathering 
of "Friends," — the First Baptist, organized in 1818, a Metho- 
dist, organized in 1828, and the Unitarian, oiganized in 1829. 

• Rev. F. D. Ayer, 



S60 IlISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [183O 

Dr. Bouton estimated that the whole number connected with 
all of them was about one-fourth of the adult population, and 
one-seventh of the inhabitants, while one-third of the popu- 
lation attended services on the Sabbath and seven-eighths could 
be reckoned as church-going. The Old North, built in 1751, 
was still the rallying point of the town, and the great congrega- 
tion, averaging about a thousand, thronged it every Sabbath. 
They came from all directions, long distances, and many on foot. 
The young pastor, Nathaniel Bouton, had been here just long 
enough to get fairly at work, and to use the powers of church 
and parish efficiently. Large as was the church it was united, 
ready to sustain the efforts and plans of the pastor. Besides 
preaching on the Sabbath, the pastor appointed weekly lectures 
in different districts, and instituted four Bible classes. He 
followed this plan for seven years, going on horseback to all 
sections of the town, visiting the people and holding the services. 

The church also was at work, and in 1831 there was connected 
with the church fourteen parish schools, taught in different 
districts, and containing four hundred and fifty-five scholars. 
Protracted meetings of three or four days' duration were also 
held, in which the pastor was assisted by neighboring pastors. 
Once or twice a year committees were appointed to visit from 
house to house, converse and pray with every family. The 
church frequently made appropriations of money to be spent in 
purchasing tracts to be distributed and books to be loaned to 
inquirers. 

' From " Regulations relative to the navigation of the Middle- 
sex Canal," a pamphlet published in 1S30, it appears that boats 
were required to be not less than forty feet nor more than 
seventy-five feet in length, and not less than nine feet nor more 
than nine and a half feet in width. Two men, a driver and 
steersman, usually made up the working force ; the boats, how- 
ever, that went up the Merrimack required three men, — one to 
•ftsteer and two to pole. The Lowell boats carried twenty tons 
of coal ; fifteen tons were sufficient freight for Concord ; when 
the water in the Merrimack was low, not more than six or seven 

' General George Stark. 



1830] TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 561 

tons could be taken up the river. About 1830 the boatmen 
received $ i 5 per month. 

It is difficult to ascertain the whole number of boats employed 
at any one time. Many were owned and run by the proprietors 
of the canal ; and many were constructed and run by private 
parties who paid the regular tolls for whatever merchandise they 
transported. Boats belonging to the same parties were conspic- 
uously numbered, like railway cars to-day. 

Lumber was transported in rafts — about seventy-five feet 
long and nine feet wide; and these rafts, not exceeding ten in 
number, were often united in " bands." A band of seven to ten 
rafts required the services of five men, including the driver. 
Boats were drawn by horses, and lumber by oxen; and "lug- 
gage boats " were required to make two and a half miles an hour, 
while "passage boats" attained a speed of four miles. Boats of 
the same class, and going the same way, were not allowed to 
pass each other, thus making " racing " impossible on the staid 
waters of the old canal. Whenever a boat approached a lock, 
the conductor sounded his horn to secure the prompt attention 
of the lock-tender ; but due regard was paid to the religious 
sentiment of New England. Travelling on the canal being 
permitted on Sundays, "in consideration of the distance from 
home at which those persons using it generally are, it may be 
reasonably expected that they should not disturb those places 
of public worship near which they pass, nor occasion any noise 
to interrupt the tranquillity of the day. Therefore it is estab- 
lished that no signal-horn shall be used or blown on Sundays." 

The tariff varied greatly from year to year. In 1827 the rate 
from Lowell to Boston wss ^2.00 the gross ton ; but many art- 
icles were carried on much lower terms. 

On account of liability of damage to the banks of the canal, 
all navigation ceased at dark ; hence, at every lock, or series of 
locks, a tavern was established. These were all owned by the 
corporation, and were often let to the lock-tender, who eked out 
his income by the accommodation of boatmen and horses. 

A trip over the canal in the passenger-packet, the " Governor 
Sullivan," must have been an enjoyable experience. Protected 



562 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['§30 

by iron rules from the dangers of collision ; undaunted by squalls 
of wind, realizing, should the craft be capsized, that he had 
nothing to do but walk ashore, the traveller, speeding along at 
the leisurely pace of four miles per hour, had ample time for 
observation and reflection. 

With the accession of business brought by the corporations at 
Lowell, the prospect for increased dividends in the future was 
extremely encouraging. The golden age of the canal appeared 
close at hand ; but the fond hopes of the proprietors were once 
more destined to disappointment. Even the genius of James 
Sullivan had not foreseen the railway locomotive. 

In 1829 a petition was presented to the legislature for the sur- 
vey of a railroad from Boston to Lowell. The interests of the 
canal were seriously involved. A committee was promptly 
chosen to draw up for presentation to the General Court "A 
Remonstrance of the Proprietors of Middlesex Canal against the 
grant of a charter to build a Railroad from Boston to Lowell." 
This remonstrance, signed by William Sullivan, Joseph Coolidge, 
and George Hallett, bears date of Boston, February 12, 1830, 
and conclusively shows how little the business men of fifty years 
ago anticipated the enormous development of our resources 
consequent upon the application of steam to transportation : — 

" It is believed no safer or ciieaper mode of conveyance can ever be estab- 
lished, nor any so well adapted for carrying heavy and bulky articles. To 
establish therefore a substitute for the canal alongside of it, and in many 
places within a few rods of it, and to do that which the canal was made to do, 
seems to be a measure not called for by any exigency, nor one which the 
legislature can permit, without implicitly declaring that all investments of 
money in public enterprises must be subjected to the will of any applicants 
who think that they may benefit themselves without regard to older enter- 
prises, which have a claim to protection from public authority. The remon- 
strants would also add that, so far as they know and believe, there never can 
be a sufficient inducement to extend a railroad from Lowell westwardly and 
northwestwardly, to the Connecticut, so as to make it the great avenue to 
and from the interior, but that its termination must be at Lowell, and con- 
sequently that it is to be a substitute for the modes of transportation now in 
u.se between that place and Boston, and cannot deserve patronage from the 
supposition that it is to be more extensively useful. 

Tlv /?«•>■/.•>« 7'/-«M.<r>v'// of Si-ptemhtr i, 1S30, remarks: "It is not astonish- 
ing thai so much reUiciaiice exists against ])lunging into doubtful specula- 



1S32] TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 563 

tions. The public itself is divided as to the practicability of the railroad. If they 
expect the assistance of capitalists, they must stand ready to guarantee the 
per centum per annum; without this, all hopes of nailroads are visionary and 
chimerical." In a report of legislative proceedings published, in the y?o.s/o» 
Courier, of January 25, 1S30, Mr. Cogswell, of Ipswich, remarked: "Rail- 
ways, Mr. Speaker, may do well enough in old countries, but will never be 
the thing for so young a country as this. When you can make the rivers run 
back, it will be time enough to make a railway." Notwithstanding the pa- 
thetic remonstrances and strange vaticinations of the canal proprietors, the 
legislature incorporated the road and refused compensation to the canal. 
Even while the railroad was in process of construction the canal directors do 
not seem to have realized the full gravity of the situation. They continued 
the policy of replacing wood with stone, and made every effort to perfect the 
service in all its details. 

The canal dividends had been kept up to their highest mark by the sale of 
its townships in Maine and other real estate, but now they began to drop. The 
year the Lowell road went into full operation the receipts of the canal were 
reduced one-third; and when the Nashua & Lowell read went into full 
operation, in 1S40, they were reduced another thirJ. The board of directors 
waged a plucky warfare with the railroads, reducing the tariff on all articles, 
and almost abolishing it on some, till the e,\penditures of the canal outran its 
income; but steam came out triumphant. 

Concord, Piscataquog, Litchfield, and Nashua each had its lines of boats, 
making in the aggregate quite a little fleet. The broad reaches of the river 
below Nashua were at times rendered especially picturesque by the bellj ing 
sails as the boats drove before the wind. 

This part of the river had also upon it, for three or four years subsequent 
to 1S34, ^ fair-sized sfeamboat, plying for passengers and freight between 
Nashua and Lowell. She was commanded one season by Captain Jacob Van- 
derbilt of Staten Island, New York, brother to the late Commodore Vander- 
bilt. In the early part of the season, while the water of the river was at its 
highest stages, it was also thronged with logs and lumber being taken down 
for market. 

The first agent appointed by the canal company, " to superintend the said 

canals, to collect tolls," at Amoskeag, was Saxnuel-E Kidder, who had for 

many ^'ears been assistant and confidential secretary of Jjjsigfi—Blodgett, the 
leading proprietor of the Amoskeag Canal. He held the appointment until 
his decease in 1S22, when Frederick G. Stark, a grandson of General John 
Stark, was appointed his successor. Mr. Stark held the position continuously 
about fifteen years until 1S37. During this period his correspondence shows 
him to have been in active communication with the Boston agents of the 
proprietors of the Middlesex Canal, who also owned or controlled the river 
canals, and he appears to have at all times enjoyed their full confidence. 

The Merrimack river canals were blotted out by the railroads. The open- 
ing of the railroad to LoweU in 1S35, to Nashua in 1S3S. and to Concord in 
1842 were successive steps of destruction to the whole system of river naviga- 



564 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRK. ['833 

tion, and culminated in a total abandonment of the canals soon after the 
Concord Railroad was put in operation. 

A hardy race of boatmen, pilots, and raftsmen — men of uncommon 
strength and" endurance, skilful in their calling but unfamiliar with other 
labor — were suddenly and permanently thrown out of employment. The 
wooden dams and locks went to decay, the embankments were cut and 
ploughed down, and successive spring freshets have hurled their icy batteries 
against the stone abutments and lock walls until they are nearly obliterated, 
and the next generation will know not of them. 

In 1 83 1 Samuel Dinsmoor of Keene was elected governor, 
defeating Ichabod Bartlett. 

Hon. Samuel Dinsmoor was a native of Windham, born in 
July, 1766. He was of the Londonderry Scotch-Irish descent, 
great-grandson of John Dinsmoor, one of the first settlers, 
grandson of Robert Dinsmoor, and son of William Dinsmoor. 
He graduated at Dartmouth College, 1789; read law, and settled 
in Keene in 1792. As a young man he was especially interested 
in military affairs, and organized the Keene light infantry — one 
of the finest drilled and best equipped corps known under the 
old militia laws. In 1808 he was appointed postmaster. In 
181 1 he was elected to Congress, and distinguished himself by 
favoring the war with Great Britain. On his return he was 
appointed collector of the direct tax, and afterwards was judge 
of Probate. In 1821 he was elected a councillor. In 1S23 he 
was the regular nominee for governor, but was defeated by Levi 
Woodbury on an independent ticket. He died in March, 1835. 

Governor Samuel Dinsmoor was re-elected in 1832, again 
defeating Mr. Ichabod Bartlett. 

Governor Samuel Dinsmoor was elected for a third term in 
1833, defeating the Whig candidate Arthur Livermore. 

General Andrew Jackson, then president of the United States, 
visited New Hampshire, by invitation of the legislature. The 
occasion brought a vast company into Concord, and the 28th of 
June, 1833, became distinguished as one of the " great days " at 
the capital of New Hampshire. It was anterior to the construc- 
tion of railways in the State, hence conveyance thither was by 
wheel carriages or personal locomotion. The occasion diifered 
from the visit of General Lafayette to Concord, eight years 



1833] TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 565 

before, spoken of on a preceding page, in that the former 
brought out men without regard to any pohtical preferences,, 
while the visit of President Jackson was during a season of 
much partisan strife. Nevertheless the number of people in 
town, June 28, 1S33, was very great, and their demonstrations of 
delight were of the most emphatic character. To thousands of 
Democrats it was the happiest day of their lives, if outward 
appearances be taken as proof of joys within. 

The day was Friday — the weather of auspicious character. 
The president was accompanied by the vice-president, Martin 
Van Buren ; Hon. Lewis Cass, secretary of war ; Hon. Levi 
Woodbury, secretary of the navy ; the private secretary of 
the president, Major Donaldson, of Nashville, Tenn., and a 
few others. He was met on the " river-road," so called, in Bow, 
being there received by a cavalcade, at the head of which was 
the town committee, of whom General Robert Davis was chair- 
man. The military display was of a high order, consisting of 
eight picked companies, of which was the Keene light infantry,. 
in command of James Wilson — probably the best disciplined, 
most effective, largest, and most attractive military company 
ever seen in New Hampshire. The entire body of troops was- 
in charge of Colonel Stephen Peabody of Milford. 

The president rode into town on horseback, preceded by the 
military, and passed up Main street to the North End, down 
State street to School, thence to the Eagle Hotel, where he 
remained during his stay in town. The next day (Saturday) 
the president reviewed the troops, accompanied by Governor 
Dinsmoor and Adjutant-general Low, — this spectacle being 
witnessed on State street, immediately west of the Capitol. 
Succeeding this was the introduction of the president to the 
civil government and legislature. The press in the House, the 
passages, and galleries, was probably never greater than on this 
occasion, there not being a foot of vacant space in the Repre- 
sentatives' Hall or galleries. 

On Saturday the president received the calls of citizens and 
others, visited the State Prison, and in the evening received a. 
multitude of ladies and gentlemen in the Doric Hall, or ar-a of 



566 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l833 

th'' State House. On Sunday he and his suite attended public 
worship — in the forenoon at the North church, early in the 
afternoon at the Unitarian church, and a service at four o'clock 
at the Baptist church. 

The president and his suite left on Monday morning for 
Washington, being accompanied to the town line by the same 
committee by whom he was received. 

The youngest of the sons of Hon. Isaac Hill was, with 
another youth named Andrew Jackson, presented to the presi- 
dent, who gave to each a United States silver coin, saying, 
" Here, ray sons, is the eagle of your country, which I have 
endeavored to honor and defend. Keep it in remembrance of 
me, and if it is ever assailed by a foreign or domestic foe, rally 
under its pinions, and defend it to the last." 

The town of Pembroke was shocked, on Sunday, June 23, by 
the rapidly spread intelligence that Sally, wife of Chauncey 
Cochran, had been murdered by Abraham I'rescott, a boy of 
eighteen, who had been living with the family. 

Prescott accomoanied Mrs. Cochran into a field near the 
house to pick strawberries, and struck her the fatal blow, in a 
secluded spot, with no motive that was ever known. From 
the testimony at the trial it was evident that he was of weak 
mind. 

He was lodged in jail at Hopkinton, and was allowed two 
trials, in which he was ably defended by Hon. Ichabod Bartlett, 
of Portsmouth, and Charles H. Peaslee, Esq., of Concord, who 
firmly believed in his moral irresponsibility ; and prosecuted by 
the attorney-general, George Sullivan, Esq., and the county 
solicitor, John Whipple, Esq. The court was held by Chief Jus- 
tice William M. Richardson, Associate Justice Joel Parker, with 
the Common Pleas justices, Benjamin Wadleigh and Aaron 
Whittemore, at the first trial, in September, 1834. 

The jury brought in a verdict of guilty, and he was sentenced 
to be hung. 

His counsel, feeling a positive conviction that he was irrespon- 
sible for his acts, either through mental impotency or insanity, 
sought every possible pretext for a new trial. A new trial was 



5d8 msTOKV OF ni;\v Hampshire. ['834 

granted at the December term of the Superior Court, 1834, 
and the case came on for trial in September, 1835 ; when 
Associate Justice Nathaniel G. Upham took the place of Chief 
Justice Richardson on the bench ; the other justices and the 
counsel were the same as at the first trial. 

Prescott was again found guilty, and his sentence confirmed,, 
to the disappointment of many who did not believe him morally 
guilty. 

On the day fixed for the execution a great crowd assembled at 
Hopkinton village to witness the event, and when informed that 
a reprieve had been granted, behaved in a most disgraceful man- 
ner, and by their demonstrations caused the death of a lady from 
fright. The reprieve was granted for a final hearing before the 
governor and Council ; but they refused to interfere, and the sen- 
tence was carried into effect January 6, 1836. 

One trial was held at the Old North meeting-house, in Con- 
cord. General Peaslee and Mr. Bartlett managed the case with 
great learning and ability ; and it was largely due to their in- 
strumentality that the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane 
was afterward established. Prescott was buried in Rumney. 

One of the most generous benefactors of the Asylum for 
he Insane was Moody Kent, a resident of Pembroke. 

The power of the human voice to give force to language 
vas never more apparent than in the case of George Sulli- 
van. Probably that one of his productions upon which the 
greatest labor was bestowed was his argument for the gov- 
ernment in the case of " Abraham Prescott on an indictment 
for the murder of Mrs Sally Cochran, of Pembroke, before 
the Court of Common Pleas, holden in Concord, for the 
county of Merrimack, September, 1834." This production fills 
'wenty-seven pages of the printed Trial, and was attentively 
listened to, from beginning to close, by a great assembly ; 
but, read at the present day, it will be found of far less 
force than the argument of Hon. Ichabod Bartlett, of counsel 
for the prisoner, made the same or the preceding day. But pub- 
lic opinion was with the attorney-general, and, therefore, had the 
merits of the two arnuments been submitted to those who heard 



l834j TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 569 

them to decide by vote, a great preponderance would have been 
-on the side of SulHvaiL' 

The spot where Mrs. Cocliran fell is indicated by a granite 
block about a foot square and three feet high, bearing the 
figures " 1833." 

William Badger, of Gilmanton, was elected governor in 1834. 

Old Gilmanton was formerly one of the largest and most im- 
portant towns of New Hampshire, and before Belmont was 
severed from it the value of agricultural products exceeded that 
of any other town in the State. Among its citizens were num- 
bered many men of large wealth and usefulness, not a few of 
whom acquired a name that was known and reverenced beyond 
the limits of their own neighborhootl. Gilmanton citizens, 
bearing the proud name of Gilman, Cogswell, and Badger, dur- 
ing more than one generation exercised active influence in the 
councils of the State. They were militia officers, sheriffs, 
judges, senators, and governors.^ 

To the site of the Badger homestead, in 1784, came General Joseph 
Badger, jr., one of the brave soldiers of the Revolution. But he was not 
the first Badger who was eminent in the history of Gilmanton. His father, 
General Joseph Badger, sen., was one of the earlier settlers, and a prominent 
man in the town and in the State. In 1773, when Governor Wentworth 
organized three additional regiments in the militia of the State, he placed as 
colonel at the head of the tenth — the first one organized — his friend, Joseph 
B.idger, then a man a little past fifty. His regiment comprised the towns of 
Gilmanton, Barnstead, Sanbornton, Meredith, and New Hampton. Colonel 
Badger was in command of his regiment when the war opened, and took an 
active part in favor of the patriot cause. For many years he represented the 
town at the General Assembly, and in 17S4 he was councillor for Strafford 
county. Before the war closed he was appointed brigadier-general of militia, 
and had a commission signed by Meshech Weare. He was moderator twenty 
times in twenty-five years, a selectman eleven years, and town treasurer six 
years. He died in 1S03, at the age of eighty-two years, after living one of the 
most active and useful lives of his generation. 

His oldest son, Joseph, jr., followed in the veteran's footsteps. He was a 
soldier in the Revolution, and fought in several of the battles of that contest. 
He was a lieutenant of his regiment during the campaign against Burgoyne, 
and did eminent service under Gates. After the close of the war he returned 
to Gilmanton, and turned his attention to farming. He owned three hundred 
acres of land, the nucleus of what became ultimately a magnificent country 
estate. His residence was a simple, one-story, frame house, but it was the 
' Aba McFarland. 2 Fred Myron Colby. 



570 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l834 

home of contentment, prosperity, and happiness. The people knew his 
worth and honored him from time to time with a testimony of their trust. 
They sent him several successive years to the legislature as the representa- 
tive of the town. In 1790 he was chosen councillor for the Strafford district, 
and was re-elected eight times to that important office. He was prominent in 
the State militia, passing through various grades of office in the tenth regi- 
ment to its command in 1795- In 1796 he was appointed by Governor Gil" 
man brigadier-general of the second brigade. He died at the age of sixty- 
one, January 14, 1S09. Says Judge Chandler E. Potter, in his "Military 
History of New Hampshire :" " As a brave soldier, earnest patriot, and up- 
right citizen, few men have better deserved the favor of the public than 
General Badger." 

The inheritor of his wealth, his ability, and his popular favor was his son 
William Badger, who was the third generation of a family to whom honors 
came by a sort of natural descent. Born in 1779, William was but a boy of 
five years when his father settled upon the hill. Thus his youth was passed 
among the charming influences of this unsurpassed location. Much of what 
he achieved in life must be ascribed to the environs of his boyhood, and thus 
is exemplified the helpfulness of lofty surroundings. He did not owe all to 
his ancestry, nor to his training; the fact that he rose higher than his fathers 
he owed undoubtedly to the exquisite beauty of the landscape he gazed upon, 
and to the strengthening breezes that blew around his boyhood home. Wil- 
liam Badger was elected a State senator from district No. 6. He was twice 
re-elected, and the last year, iSi6, he was president of the Senate. This lat- 
ter year he was appointed an associate justice of the Court of Common Pleas, 
an office that he held until 1S20. In May of that year Governor Bell ap- 
pointed him sheriff of the county of Strafford, and he served in that capacity 
ten years, retiring in 1S30.' 

Colonel Badger was a Democrat of the Jefferson and Jackson 
school, and about this time began to be regarded as a sort of 
prospective candidate for gubernatorial honors. His large 
wealth, his noble ancestry, his long and meritorious services 
brought him before all men's eyes. He had moreover those 
popular democratic manners that endeared him to the people. 
In 1831 the elder Samuel Dinsmoor, of Keene, was the nominee 
of the party, and was three times successfully elected. In 1834 
Colonel Badger became the candidate, and received a triumphant 
election. The ne.xt year he was re-elected. Governor Badger 
was a very efificient chief magistrate. He possessed strict in- 
tegrity, his judgment was sound, and when determined upon a 
course of action he was not to be swerved from it. During the 
"Indian Stream territory troubles" his duties were of great 

■ Fred Myron Colby. 



1834] TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 57I 

responsibility, but he performed them with promptness, and at 
the same time judiciously. A man with less care and prudence 
might have greatly increased our border troubles. His course 
received the hearty commendation of all parties, and doubtless 
saved us from a war with Great Britain. 

Governor Badger was a tall, stately man, strong, si.\ feet in 
height, and at some periods of his life weighed nearly three 
hundred pounds. He was active and stirring his whole life. 
Though a man of few words he was remarkably genial. He 
had a strong will, but his large good sense prevented him from 
being obstinate. He was generous and hospitable, a friend to 
the poor, a kind neighbor, and a high-souled, honorable Chris- 
tian gentleman. 

He died September 21, 1S52, at the age of seventy-three.^ 

^In 1838 Nathaniel P. Rogers removed from Plymouth to 
Concord, and became the sole editor of the Herald of Frctdoni. 
He had, from its establishment in 1834, furnished many most 
trenchant and brilliant articles for its columns. 

He was born in Plymouth, graduated with honors at Dart- 
mouth College in 1816, studied law with Richard Fletcher, then 
settled down to its practice in his native town, and continued 
there through about twenty quite successful years. 

As student in books of general literature, especially history 
and poetry, none were before him. But general reading never 
detracted in the least from the duties of his profession. At the 
time of his death, an intimate friend who knew him long and 
well wrote of him, that "so accurate was his knowledge of law, 
and so industrious was he in business, that the success of a 
client was always calculated upon from the moment that his 
assistance was secured." 

The great mission of his life, however, was neither literature 
nor law. He was subsequently ordained and consecrated as a 
high priest in the great fellowship of humanity, and most 
divinely did he magnify his office in the last ten years of his life 
on earth. In 1835 ''>s espoused the cause of the American 
slave, and marshalled himself by the side of William Lloyd 

* Fred Myron Colby. ^ Parker Pillsbury. 



572 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l834 

■Garrison and his then hated, hunted, and persecuted discipleship. 
From that time the anti-slavery enterprise, the temperance and 
peace causes, and the equal rights of woman had no firmer, 
braver, and most certainly no abler advocate and champion than 
was he. 

New Hampshire politics were at that time almost unanimously 
democratic. And Democracy meant a diabolical devotion to ■ 
slavery. Nor was its rival, the Whig party, but little better. 
And the clergy, with a few honorable exceptions, were still in 
full sacramental communion with the churches and pulpits of 
the South. 

Anti-slavery meetings were everywhere mobbed and broken 
up. Garrison had been seized in broad day by a mob of " gentle- 
men in broadcloth" — driven from an anti-slavery concert of 
prayer, then seized, stripped of most of his clothing, and with 
a rope about his body, was pulled along some of Boston's princi- 
pal streets until rescued by the mayor and police and shut in the 
strongest jail to save his life. In Concord, a meeting attended 
by George Thompson, of England, John G. Whittier, and other 
eminent abolitionists, was most ignominiously broken up, and 
Thompson only missed the tar kettle by being spirited away out 
of the village and concealed by his friends. Whittier narrowly 
escaped the baptism of tar and feathers by being mistaken for 
Thompson by the rioters. A Methodist minister, engaged to 
give an anti-slavery lecture in Northfield, was arrested as a 
common brawler, and dragged from his knees and the pulpit as 
he was opening his meeting with prayer. 

But such was the popular sentiment towards slavery, when 
Nathaniel Peabody Rogers, with wife and family of seven young 
children, removed to Concord and became editor of the Herald 
of Freedom, .a small, unpretentious sheet, without capital, or 
many subscribers, but commissioned to speak with voice to be 
heard round the world and down the ages. 

Rogers had most unshaken faith in the people, never doubt- 
ing that, wisely taught and led, they would gladly abolish slavery 
and cease to oppress and enslave one another. 

He and his immediate associates relied solely on the power of 



-.835] TUKNIMKES, CANALS, KAILROADS. 573 

moral and spiritual truth. They formed no political party. 
They abjured the ballot altogether as a reforming agency ; and 
still more essentially the bullet, the only specie redemption of 
the ballot. 

And Rogers lived to see the downfall of that old Democratic 
dynasty in his native State, and in many other States, and the 
rending in twain of the Methodist General Conference and 
some other powerful ecclesiastical associations, and a revolution 
in ecclesiastical, especially clerical, control and leadership. 

He died in October, 1846, and was buried in Concord, where 
no monument commemorates his last resting-place.' 

Nathaniel P. Rogers, in October. 184^, soon after he entered the lectiu-e 
field, wrote as follows : — 

"The abolitionists of the country ought to know Parker Pillsbury better 
than they do. I know him in all that is noble in soul, and powerful in talent 
and eloquence. The remote district school-house, in New Hampshire, and 
the old granite county of Essex, Massachusetts, where he was born, would 
bear me witness to all I could say. He is one of the strong men of our age. 
• • ■ • We passed the solitary school-house a few days since, where he 
was allowed the few weeks' schooling of his childhood ; but thanks they were 
so few! He was educating all the better for humanity's service on the 
rugged tarm. He there taught himself to be a man. A great lesson he had 
effectually learned before he came in contact with seminaries and a priest- 
hood. These proved unequal, on that account, to overmatch and cower 
down his homespun nobility of soul. They tied their fetters round his manly 
limbs, but he snapped them as Samson did the withes, and went out an abol- 
itionist, carrying off the very theological gates with him upon his manly 
shoulders." 

The importance of railroads to the people of New Hamp- 
shire can hardly be estimated. Probably no section of this 
country is benefited and its material interests so largely and 
directly aided in a general manner as this State, while in some 
localities the development of every important enterprise is al- 
most entirely dependent upon railroad facilities. 

At the June session, in 1835, the Nashua and Lowell, Con- 
cord, and Boston and Maine Railroads were chartered. The 
Eastern Railroad was chartered in 1S36; the Dover and Winni- 
pisiogee, in 1839: the Northern, Great Falls, and Conway, Bos- 
ton, Concord and Montreal, and Cheshire Railroad.s, in 1844; 

■ Parker Pillsbury. 



574 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['836 

the Portsmouth, Newmarket, and Concord Railroad, the Frank- 
lin and Bristol, the Ashuelot, and the Sullivan Raih'oads, in 
1846; the Manchester and Lawrence, and the Atlantic and St. 
Lawrence, in 1847; the Connecticut River Railroad, and the 
Contoocook Valley Railroad, the Concord and Claremont, the 
Monadnock, the White Mountains (to Littleton), and the Nash- 
ua and Epping Railroads, in 1848 ; the Suncook Valley, the 
Manchester and Candia, in 1849; the Ammonoosuc Railroad 
(to buy and e.xtend White Mountain Railroad to Lancaster), in 
1855 ; the White Mountains Railroad, in 1859; the Dover and 
Winnipisiogee Railroad, in 1862; the Manchester and Keene 
Railroad, in 1864; the Portland and Rochester and the Ports- 
mouth and Dover Railroad, in 1866; the Ogdensburg, in 1867; 
the Wolfeborough Railroad, in 1S68 ; the Hillsborough and 
Peterborough Railroad, in 1869; the Nashua, Acton, and Bos- 
ton Railroad, in 1872; the Pemigewasset Valley Railroad, in 
1874; the Farmington and Rochester, in 1877 ; the Profile and 
Franconia Notch Railroad, the Whitefield and Jefferson Rail- 
road, and the New Zealand River Railroad, in 1878 ; the Kil- 
kenny Railroad, in 1879. The Upper Coos Railroad was 
completed in 1887. 

In 1836 Isaac Hill was elected governor of the State. Few 
have rendered their names more conspicuous in the affairs of 
the town of Concord and of the State of New Hampshire. 
Born in Cambridge in April, 1788, he was apprenticed to the pub- 
lisher of the Amherst Cabinet; and in April, 1809, he issued the 
first numbeV of the Neiv Hampshire Patriot. He was elected 
to the State Senate in 1820, 1821, 1822, 1827; and in 1828 he 
was the candidate of his party for United States senator. In 
1 829 he was appointed by General Andrew Jackson second compt- 
roller of the Treasury department. His nomination was rejected 
by the Senate in April, 1830, when he returned to New Hamp- 
shire and obtained the election as United States senator, and 
took his seat in the body which had sought to humble him. He 
resigned his seat in the Senate, when he was elected governor, 
and he was re-elected in 1837, and again in 1838. In 1840 he 
was appointed sub-treasurer at Boston. He exerted great influ- 



1836] TUKNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 575 

ence over the people of the State. He possessed great native 
talent, indomitable energy, industry, and perseverance. As a 
political editor he had few equals. His reputation extended 
throughout the country. He was kind and amiable. He died in 
March, 185 l 

In the year 1836 Congress voted to distribute about thirty-six 
millions of dollars of surplus revenue, then lying in the Treasury, 
among the several States. These millions had accumulated 
from the sales of public lands, and were still increasing. The 
national debt had been all paid. General Jackson told his party 
that this money was a source of danger to the liberties of the 
country. The Democratic party in those days was hostile to 
internal improvements, and opposed them everywhere. Rail- 
roads were built by individual energy ; rivers were obstructed 
by snags, sawyers, rafts, and sand-bars, and even the harbors of 
the lakes, and the St. Clair flats, were found pretty much in the 
condition nature left them. This money was to be distributed 
in four instalments, — three of which were paid when an angry 
cloud hovered over our northern borders, threatening war with 
England, and the fourth instalment of nine millions was re- 
tained to pay the expenses of transporting troops to Maine, to 
Niagara, and to the Indian Stream country in northern New 
Hampshire. The amount paid over to New Hampshire ex- 
ceeded 3800,000. The legislature votetl to divide the money 
among the towns in proportion to population. 

In the fall and winter of 1836 Hon. Boswell Stevens, of Pem- 
broke, held the ofifice of judge of Probate for Merrimack county. 
He was an able lawyer, and a popular and upright judge. 
During the session of the legislature of that year he was struck 
with a paralysis, entirely disabling him from ability to discharge 
the duties of his office. His case came before the legislature at 
their fall session. The evidence of able physicians was received 
that there was no reasonable prospect of his recovery. Accord- 
ingly, both branches of the legislature united in an address to 
the governor, requesting his removal from office. The place of 
the judge was soon occupied by his successor. Judge Stevens 
died in January of the next year. 



576 HISTORY OF NEW IIAMP.SHIKE. [1838 

After protracted litigation the proprietors of the fourth 
turnpike were victorious over their enemies. The Court of 
Common Pleas, at the first term, 1837, obeyed the mandate of 
the higher court. The corporation, standing upon the thin edge 
of a technicality, had won a barren victory which presaged ulti- 
mate defeat. The whole community, with the tavern keepers 
and stage proprietors and drivers on the lead, united for free 
roads. 

On July 2, 183S, they carried through the legislature an Act authorizing 
selectmen and the court to take the franchise and other rights of corpora- 
tions for public highways in the same manner as they took the land of indi- 
vidual.'^. 

The assault soon commenced all along the line. A monster petition, 
headed by Reuben G. Johnson, to free the turnpike from West Andover to its 
Boscawen terminus was filed in the Court of Common Pleas for Merrimack 
county, February 11, 1S39. 

At the term of that court commencing on the third Tuesday of March, 1839, 
Simeon P. Colby, Jesse Carr, and Stephen Sibley were appointed a court's 
committee thereon. At the September term, 1S39, Moses Norris, jr., of Pitts- 
field, and Nathaniel S. Berry, of Hebron, were substituted for Carr and Sibley. 
The hearing was had at Johnson's tavern — the Bonney place — in Boscawen, 
October 28, 1S39, and lasted seven days. 

They freed the turnpike, and ordered that Andover should pay $566, Salis- 
bury, $600, and Boscawen, $534, for the benefit of the stock-holders of the 
turnpike. The report was accepted at the March term, 1S40. Upon similar 
petitions the turnpike had been freed from the other termini to Grafton line. 
The great highway thereafter swarmed with travel as it never had done 
before. 

But in 1S46-7-S, by successive steps, the Northern Railroad was put through 
from Concord to White River. A great revolution had thus been wrought. 
The thoroughfare, with its long lines of pod, gimlet, and big teams, and its 
whirring stage coaches teeming with life and animation, became almost as 
silent as a deserted grave-yard. The taverns which dotted almost every mile 
were silent, too, and the great stables at the stage stations and elsewhere, 
filled with emptiness, looked like the spared monuments of another period 

Railroads have taken the place of canals and turnpike roads. 

The foregoing account of the fourth New Hampshire turn- 
pike is taken from an extended account written by John M. 
Shirley and published in the Granite Monthly. The other turn- 
pikes of the State suffered the same or similar fate. Like the 
toll bridges they became the property of the town, or the 
county, or were disused. 



I839I TUKXI'IKF.S. CANALS, RAII.KOAnS. 57/ 

John Page, jr., was elected governor in 1839, and re-elected in 
1840 and in 1841. He was a native of Haverhill, born in 1787, 
and son of John Page, the first white man that wintered in the 
town. He served on the northern frontier in the 18 12 war, fre- 
quently represented Haverhill in the legislature, was register of 
deeds of Grafton county in 1827, and again from 1829 to 1835, 
when he was elected United States senator to serve the unex- 
pired term of Governor Isaac Hill. He was interested in 
agriculture, and promoted Dr. Jackson's geological survey of 
the State. He died in 1865.1 

In March, 1839, Edmund Burke of Newport was elected to 
Congress. Mr. Burke was born in Westminster, Vt., in January, 
1809, studied Latin with Hon. Henry A. Bellows, afterwards 
chief justice of New Hampshire, and read law. 

-At the close of his Congressional labors, March 4, 1S45, Mr. Burke entered 
upon the duties of the office of commissioner of patents, to which he was 
appointed without solicitation on his part hy his friend Mr. Polk. 

In the summer of 1850 Mr. Burke returned to his home in Newport, and 
resumed the active practice of his profession as a lawyer, which he steadily 
pursued with great success forever thirty years, attaining a position at the 
bar second to that of no lawyer in the State. 

He was prominent in the Democratic councils in the State, and ever after 
the period of his Congressional service was regarded, throughout the country, 
as one of the foremost representatives of the New Hampshire Democracy. In 
the conventions of his party, State and national, he took a conspicuous part. 
He presided at the Democratic State convention in Concord in the summer of 
1S53, and again in the winter of 1S66-7. He was a delegate from New Hamp- 
shire to the national Democratic convention in Baltimore, in 1S44, which 
nominated James K. Polk for president, and to the convention holden in the 
same city in 1S52, in which Franklin Pierce received the presidential nomina- 
tion. It may here properly be remarked that to the strong influence of Mr. 
Burke, properly exercised through his extended acquaintance and iiigh stand- 
ing with leading men of the party from different sections in the convention, 
more than to the efforts of any other individual, the choice of the convention 
was ultimately bestowed upon the then favorite son of the Granite State. 
Mr. Burke died in 1883. 

■^The year 1840 was a notable year in the history of this 
country. No political campaign ever exceeded this in inter- 
est and excitement. The Democrats had nominated Martin 

' .^djutant-generars Report, iS6S, part 2, page 20. 2 j^_ h. Metcalf. 

^ Rev. J. I-. Seward. 



5/8 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 84O 

Van Buren for a second term, and the Whigs had nominated 
General W. H. Harrison. The shouts for "Tippecanoe and 
Tyler too," the long processions in which were the log cabins 
and barrels of hard cider, and the excited political debates 
and stump speeches, will never be forgotten by any one 
who participated in the eventful campaign. General James 
Wilson, of Keene, remarkably distinguished himself in this 
exciting struggle, delivering stump speeches in all parts of the 
country, and contributing largely to the success won by the 
Whig party. 

General James Wilson was the son of Hon. James Wilson (born in Peter- 
borough in August, 1766, graduated at Harvard College in 17S9, representa- 
tive to Congress from 1S09 to iSii, an able lawyer and a firm Federalist, 
died in January, 1839; and Elizabeth (Steele) Wilson, and inherited not only 
the practice but the great talents of his honored father; he was born in 
Peterborough, March 18, 1797. His early years were passed in his native 
town. His educational advantages were such as were obtainable in a country 
town at that time. He studied at Phillips Exeter ,\cademy, graduated at Mid- 
dlebury College in 1S20, read law with his father and took his practice. 

In the military service of his State, General Wilson was deservedly popular. 
He was appointed captain of the Keene light infantry, January i, 1821, and 
rose through all the various ranks until he was made major-general of the 
Third Division of the New Hampshire militia. 

In 1S25 he was chosen as one of the two representatives to the General 
Court from the town of Keene. In iS:;S he was elected speaker of the House. 
In the legislature at that time were Hon. Ezekiel Webster, Hon. U. M. 
Farley, Hon. Joseph Bell, Hon. P. Noyes, and other noted men. From the 
year 1825 to the year 1S40 inclusive. General Wilson represented Keene in the 
Stale legislature, excepting the years 1833, 1S3S, and 1839. In the last two 
of the years just named he was Whig candidate for governor, but was de- 
feated by his Democratic opponent. 

He had been famous as an orator and advocate before, but his 
rhetorical triumphs, at this time, extended his reputation to all 
parts of the land. His presence was unusually impressive. 
He was six feet four inches in height, straight, well-built, with 
black curling hair and bright blue eyes, as fine a set of white, 
sound teeth as was ever seen, of a stern and determined, yet 
fascinating and impressive countenance. He delighted to joke 
about his personal appearance, and would describe himself as a 
" rough-hewn block from the Granite State." His friends 
spoke of him familiarly as "Long Jim," "Gen. Jim," etc. 



1S40] TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 579 

He had all the qualifications of a first-class orator, lie was a logical think- 
er, and arranged the subjects ol'his thought methodically. He was well read 
in history and the Bible, and was ready with a good illustration to enforce his 
points. He was a capital story teller, and knew just when and where to tell 
one. He could laugh or cry at will, and could produce either effect upon his 
auditors at pleasure. Nor was this done wholly for effect. He was a sincere 
man. He had fine feelings and instincts and was remarkably humane; and, 
whenever he spoke, he was tremendously in earnest. He was no hypocrite. 
His political principles were based on study, reflection, and sound arguments. 
He had a powerful voice, and could be distinctly heard for many yards in an 
open field. He had a marvellous command of language and an inexhaustible 
fund of wit. He was a keen, shrewd observer and a good reader of human 
nature; hence he knew how to adapt himself to his audience. Possessing all 
of these manifold qualifications of a first-class orator, it is no wonder that he 
gained a hearing in the famous canvass of 1S40. Men of every shade of poli- 
tical opinion flocked to hear him. A curious anecdote of the time is preserved. 
One day he was making a stump speech in some place, and, in another part 
ot the same field, some distance away, some one was addressing a Democratic 
assemblage. Some stray auditors from the Democratic fold found their way 
to the side of the field where Wilson was speaking. They returned with a 
glowing account of his eloquence. One by one the Democrats went to the 
other side of the field to hear the famous Whig orator, till finally not a list- 
ener was left for the Democratic speakers. 

The Whigs were victorious, but General Harrison enjoyed his victory 
only a single month. 

The visit of General Wilson to Keene, in 1861, after an ab- 
sence of more than a decade, was a memorable one. Soon after 
his arrival, the shot was fired at Sumter, and the regiments be- 
gan to be formed ready to march to the conflict. 

One memorable occasion will never be forgotten by those 
who witnessed it. It was on the 22nd of April, 1861. 
A mass meeting was announced to be holden in the public 
square on the morning of that day. General Wilson accepted 
an invitation to address the meeting. The knowledge of this 
fact was conveyed to the adjoining towns. An immense aud- 
ience assembled, filling the square. It was the general's first 
public appearance since his arrival. As the hour for the speak- 
ing drew near, a band proceeded to the general's residence 
and escorted his carriage to the grand stand. When the door 
was opened, and the familiar form of the old hero was seen 
mounting the rostrum, such a tumultuous applause was heard 
as was never known in Keene before. Old friends from Keene 



jSO IIISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 84O 

and the adjoining towns were there in great numbers, repre- 
senting all occupations and professions. When he began to 
speak, all voices were hushed. It was the same grand old voice, 
with its familiar ring, the same telling and forcible gestures, the 
same oratorical power, with fun and anecdote alternating with 
the most solemn and pathetic passages, the same earnestness, 
and the same persuasive and convincing eloquence which so 
many had heard in former days from the same lips. 

It was a scene never to be forgotten by those who were pres- 
ent ; and it did much good, the immediate effect being to add 
many names to the roll of enlistments. General Wilson died in 
Keene in May, i8Si.' 

* A charter was obtained from the legislature of New Hampshire in 1S36, 
shortly after the incorporation of the Eastern Railroad in Massachusetts, 
establishing a company for the purpose of continuing the railroad from the 
Massachusetts line to Portsmouth. A company was then formed, and a sur- 
vey and location of the route were made by Mr. Barney, but the stock was not 
wholly taken up, and no measures were taken for the prosecution of the work, 
until 1839. ■'^" additional Act was then obtained authorizing a new location, 
with a limitation as to its termination in Portsmouth, and the company was 
reorganized and the subscription completed. The new company was com- 
posed in part of individuals who were proprietors in the Massachusetts com- 
pany, and a majority' of the directors chosen were also directors of the latter 
companj'. Colonel Fessenden was appointed engineer, and under his direc- 
tion new surveys of the route were made. He made a report to the directors 
on two lines, an eastern and western. The western line, although a little 
longer than the other, was recommended by him as entitled to the preference, 
as having fewer curves, a less extent of bridges, and not crossing any naviga- 
ble streams. It also passes near a greater amount of population. This 
route was adopted by the directors, and the grading of the line was soon after 
contracted for. After leaving the Merrimack river at Newburyport bridge, 
the line passes west of the old Salisbury village; after reaching Hampton 
Falls, leaves the village a third of a mile at the west, and the landing on the 
east, passes a little west of Old Hampton village to Cedar Swamp in Green- 
land, and after crossing the Greenland road above the plains proceeds to 
Portsmouth. The termination was originally fi.xed near the Universalist 
meeting-house, but by authority of a new Act of the legislature passed in 1S40, 
and with the consent of the inhabitants of Portsmouth by vote in town meet- 
ing, it is changed to a point in the northerly part of the town, where it may 
be extended, if it should hereafter be determined so to do, by a bridge over 
Piscataqua river. The length of the line thus located in New Hampshire is 
fifteen miles and two thousand five hundred and seventy feet, and from Mer- 
' Rev. J. !.. Seward. " l.'ontcnipnrarv Magazine Article. 



TURNPIKES, CANALS, RAILROADS. 



581 



rimack river nineteen miles one tliousand and eigiity feet. Of this distance, 
eigliteen and a third miles are straight, and the residue curved on a radius 
not less than a mile. About five miles of the distance are level, and the gra- 
dients for the residue vary from fifteen to thirty-five feet per mile; the 
greatest elevation being about ninety feet above the marsh level. The whole 
length of the raih'oad from East Boston to Portsmouth is thus fifty-three 
miles two thousand three hundred and ninety feet. 

The remaining portion of the Eastern Railroad in Massachusetts, interven- 
ing between Newburyport and the New Hampshire line, was put under con- 
tract for grading, as was also the erection of the bridge over the Merrimack 
river at Newburyport, in the summer of 1S39, to be completed in the follow- 
ing summer. These two portions of this railroad were opened in 1840. 




CHAPTER XVIII 

ANTI-SLA VER Y AGITA TIOX, 1841-1860. 

Stephen S. Foster — Harry Hubbard — Pittsburg — Indian Stream 
War — ^JoHN H. Steele — John P. Hale — Anthony Colby — Man- 
chester — Jared W. Williams — Samuel Dinsmoor, Jr. — Dr. Noah 
Martin — Franklin Pierce — Kansas — Countess Rumford — Na- 
thaniel B. Baker — Ralph Metcalf — Daniel Clark — William 
W. Haile — Ichabod Goodwin — Reminiscences. 

TV/TR. STEPHEN S. FOSTER,^ the zealous abolitionist, faith- 
ful to the enslaved and to his own solemn convictions, con- 
ceived the idea of entering the meeting-houses on Sunday, and 
at the hour of sermon respectfully rising and claiming the right 
to be heard then and there on the duties and obligations of the 
church to those who were in bonds at the South. 

This measure he first adopted in the Old North church, at Concord, in Sep- 
tember, 1841. He was immediately seized by "three young gentlemen, one 
a Southerner from Alabama, and the other two guards at the State Prison, 
thrust along the broad aisle and violently pushed out of the house." A full 
account of the transaction was published in the Herald of Freedom on the 
following Friday. 17th of the same month. But Mr. Foster could not be 
deterred iVom his purpose. And the measure proved so effective as a means 
of awakening the public attention to the importance of the anti-slavery enter- 
prise, that others were led to adopt it. Of course it led to persecution,, and 
some were imprisoned for the offence, — Mr. Foster as many as ten or twelve 
times, in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Perhaps his most memorable 
experience at the hands of the civil law, at the time, was in Concord, in June, 
1S42. On Sunday, the twelfth of that month, being in Concord, he went in 
the afternoon to the South church, and at the time of sermon lie rose in a 
pew at the side of the pulpit, and commenced speaking in his usual solemn 
and deeply impressive manner. He evidently would have been heard, and 
with deep attention, too, for many in the house not only knew him well, but 
' I'arker Pillsbury. 



1841] ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 5S3 

knew that this was a course not unusual with him, and one in the rightful- 
ness of which he conscientiously believed, and, besides, was sometimes able 
to make most useful and effective. Even the Unitarian society, one Sunday, 
gave him respectful hearing; the minister, Rev. Mr. Tilden, even inviting 
him to speak. 

But not just so the South church; there he was immediately seized and 
rushed with great violence to the door, and then pitched headlong down the 
rough stone steps to the street, injuring him so severely that he had to be 
helped to his lodgings, and a surgeon was called immediately to attend him. 
Fortunately no bones were broken nor dislocated, but bruises and sprains 
compelled his walking with a cane for several days. But that was not all. 
On Monday he was arrested by leading members of the church '• for disturb- 
ing public worship," and carried before a magistrate for trial. Perhaps no 
justice's court in Concord ever excited profounder interest than did this. But 
Foster came most triumphantly out of it. Even the small fine imposed as 
matter of form was paid, and nearly doubly paid, by the throng that crowded 
the room, tossing their quarter and half dollars on to the lable. The kind- 
hearted magistrate, seeing that he would be sustained, remitted the fine and 
the costs, and Mr. Foster was discharged, amid the acclamations of the mul- 
titude that filled the court room, and then, with louder cheers, demanded that 
all the money be taken from the table and handed over to Mr. Foster. And 
it was done. 

Stephen S. Foster was a native of New Hampshire. Long 
before slavery was abolished, or had appealed to the arbitrament 
of war as a forlorn hope, he had seen and demonstrated that his 
native State had profounder interests in it than any of its wisest 
sages, statesmen, clergymen, or churchmen had ever dreamed. 
Though among the least of her sister States, the war of the 
Rebellion drew away from her noblest, bravest, strongest sons 
more than thirty thousand ; and over four thousand perished in 
battle, or by disease and exposure inseparable from war, so often 
more dreadful than death at the cannon's mouth ! All this, not 
to speak of other thousands who escaped death, but pruned of 
limbs, plucked of eyes, and scarred and disabled for life by the 
iron hail-stones of the bloody field. All this, not counting the 
sighs and tears, bereavements and losses of mothers, sisters, 
widows, and orphans. All this, not reckoning financial, moral, 
nor spiritual impoverishment and desolation, not to be restored 
even by the incoming generation ! 

And so slavery became a New Hampshire institution after all ; 
and Stephen Foster, being native to the State, and superemi- 



584 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [184I 

nently an anti-slavery man, had intellectual and moral gifts and 
graces of which any State might be proud. 

Stephen Symonds Foster was born in Canterbury, in November, 1809. 
His father was Colonel Asa Foster, of Revolutionary memory, and of most 
amiable and excellent qualities and endowments. Mrs. Foster, too, was re- 
markable for sweetness of disposition and fine culture for her time, joined to 
elegance and beauty of person, lasting to great age; both herself and husband 
almost completing a century. The old homestead is in the north part o!' 
Canterbury, on a beautiful hillside, overlooking a long stretch of the Merri- 
mack river valley, including Concord, and a wide view, east and west, as well 
as south. 

His parents were most devout and exemplary members of the Congrega- 
tional church, to which he also was joined in youthful years. At that time, 
the call for ministers and missionaries, especially to occupy the new opening 
field at the West, called then " the great valley of the Mississippi," was loud 
and earnest. At twenty-two he heard and heeded it, and immediately entered 
on a course of collegiate study to that end. and it is only just to say that a 
more consistent, conscientious, divinely consecrated spirit never set itself to 
prepare for that then counted holiest of callings. 

With him "Love your enemies" was more than words, and " Resist not 
evil" was not returning evil, nor inflicting penalties under human enact- 
ments. 

In Dartmouth College he was called to perform military service. On 
Christian principles he declined, and was arrested and dragged away to jail. 
So bad were the roads that a part of the way the sheriff was compelled to ask 
him to leave the carriage and walk. He would cheerfully have walked all the 
way, as once did George Fox, good naturedly telling the officer. "Thee need 
not go thyself; send thy boy. I know the way." For Foster feared no prison 
cells. He had earnest work in hand, which led through many of them in 
subsequent years. 

Eternal Goodness might have had objects in view in sending him to Haver- 
hill, for he found the jail in a condition to demand the hand of a Hercules, 
as in the " Augean" stables, for its cleansing. His companions there were 
poor debtors, as well as thieves, murderers, and lesser felons. One man so 
gained his confidence as to whisper in his ear that on his hands was the blood 
of murder, though none knew it but himself. Another poor wretch h.id 
been so long confined by illness to his miserable bed. that it literally swarmed 
with vermin. 

Foster wrote and sent to the world such a letter as few but he could write, 
and wakened general horror and indignation wherever it was read; and a 
cleansing operation was forthwith instituted. And the filth on the floor was 
found so deep., and so hard trodden, that strong men had to come with pick- 
axes and dig it up. And that jail was not only revolutionized, but the whole 
prison system of the State, from that time, began to be reformed ; and im- 
prisonment for debt was soon heard of here no more. 



I84-J ANTI-SI, AVEKV ACITAI'ION. 585 

His college studies closed, ho entered for a theological course tlu- Union 
Seminary in New York. 

In 1839 Mr. Foster abandoned all hope of the Congregational ministry, and 
entered the anti-slavery service, side by side with Garrison of the Boston 
[liberator., and Nathaniel Peabody Rogers of the New Hampshire Ileru/d oj 
Freedom. And from that time onward till slavery was abolished, and indeed 
to the day of his death, the cause of freedom and humanity, justice and truth, 
had no more faithful, few if any more able champions. 

Mr. Foster, having adopted and proved the great utility of his new method, 
Persisted in it until it was demonstrated that no other had ever subserved so 
good a purpose in arousing the whole nation to its duty and danger. Noth- 
ing like or unlike it, before or afterward, so stirred the whole people, until 
John Brown, with his twenty heroes, marched on Harper's Ferry and chal- 
lenged the supporters of slavery to mortal combat. 

To-day neither John Brown nor Stephen Symonds Foster need apology 
or defence. Though their mortal bodies lie mouldering in the dust, their 
spirits inarch on in glory and victory for evermore. 

Probably he encountered more mob opposition and violence than any other 
agent ever in the anti-slavery lecturing field, and almost always he would in 
some way obtain control of his opponents. He died in September. 18S1, at 
the age of seventy-two. 

The election in 1S42 resulted in the choice of Henry Hubbard 
for governor. He was son of Hon. John Hubbard, born in 
May, 1784, in Charlestown ; graduated at Dartmouth College 
in 1803; read law with Hon. Jeremiah Mason; and settled in 
Charlestown. In 18 10 he was chosen moderator, which office 
he held, in all, sixteen times. He was first selectman in the 
years 18 19, 1820, and 1828, in which last year he was also 
moderator and town clerk. He represented the town in the 
legislature eleven times in all between 1812 and 1827. In 
June, 1825, he was chosen speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, in place of Hon. Levi Woodbury, who had been 
elected to a seat in the United States Senate. He was also 
chosen to the same office in the years 1826 and 1827. In 1823 
he was appointed solicitor for Cheshire county, in which capacity, 
exhibiting rare qualities as an advocate, he served the term of 
five years. On the incorporation of Sullivan county he was 
appointed judge of Probate, the duties of which office he con- 
tinued to discharge until 1S29, when he was chosen a represen- 
tative to Congress. In Congress, to employ the language of 
Chief Justice Gilchrist, " He at once distinguished himself by 



586 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIKK. ['^43 

the possession of those qualities which characterized him through 
Ht'e. Always willing to labor ; never disposed to throw upon 
others what belonged to himself; indefatigable in the transaction 
of all business intrusted to him ; an ardent political friend, but a 
courteous antagonist ; he had the entire confidence of General 
Jackson and the kindly regard of his opponents. He was an 
active member of the Committee of Claims, upon whose deci- 
sion such important interests depended, and signalized himself 
by his untiring support of the Pension Act of 1832, which gave 
their long-delayed recompense to the soldiers of the Revolution. 
In 1834 he was elected to the Senate, where, for the period of 
six years, he had the implicit confidence of the administration, 
and the Democratic party. . . In 1842 and 1843 he was 
elected governor of New Hampshire. With this ofifice his polit- 
ical career closed, although at every successive election no one 
in the State rendered more efificient service to the Democratic 
cause." 

It may be added to the above, that soon after leaving the 
gubernatorial chair he was appointed sub-treasurer at Boston, 
to which city he for a time removed. 

Politically, the life of Governor Hubbard must be divided into 
two eras : the first, in which he earnestly supported the Federal- 
istic or Whig party ; the second, in which he earnestly sustained 
the Democracy. He died on June 5, 1857. Most of his life was 
passed in Charlestown, and he died in the house in which he 
was born.' 

^The town of Pittsburg, which, prior to its incorporation in 
1843, was known as the Indian Stream territory, forms the ex- 
treme northern portion of the State, lying north of the forty-fifth 
parallel of north latitude, and is a portion of the tract claimed 
respectively by the governments of Great Britain and the United 
States ; the question of jurisdiction being settled by the Webster 
and Ashburton treaty in 1842. 

About the year 1790, some twelve or fifteen hardy pioneers 
from Grafton county, attracted by the marvellous stories told 
by two explorers who had followed the course of the river through 

' History of Charlestown. - David Blanchard. 



1843] ANTI-SLAVERV AGITATION. 587 

to Canada, of the wonderful fertility of the soil in the valley of 
the upper Connecticut, made their way through the forests, and 
commenced a settlement on the river and in the valley of the 
Indian Stream. They were mostly driven away by hostile bands 
of Indians during the war of 1812. 

Some of these returned after the close of the war, bringing 
others with them ; and in 1820 there were probably about forty 
families settled along the north bank of the river, the settlement 
extending about eight miles north and east from the mouth of 
Indian Stream. 

In 1820-22 surveys were made along the Connecticut, and 
some ten thousand acres of land marked out in lots of one and 
two hundred acres each, by Moses Davis and Jonathan Eastman, 
for an association of proprietors who claimed to derive their 
title to these lands by deed from one Philip, a chief of the St. 
Francis tribe of Indians. 

These lands were offered to settlers by the proprietors, in 
alternate lots, on condition of making stipulated improvements 
thereon within a given period, and working on roads, or in other 
words doing settlers' duty, as it was termed. 

In 1824, at the June session of the New Hampshire legisla- 
ture, the attention of the State government was called to the 
encroachments of these settlers on lands north of the parallel 
of forty-five degrees north latitude, which it claimed as part of 
its public domain ; and a committee was accordingl}' appointed 
to proceed to the territory, make the necessary investigations, 
and report the fact at the November session. The committee 
reported some fifty-eight settlers on the lands. 

The State repudiated the Indian or proprietary title, but in view 
of the hardships endured by these pioneers, and their having 
entered upon their lands in good faith, quieted them in their 
title to the lands in their possession, to the amount of two hun- 
dred acres each, excepting Jeremiah Tabor, who was quieted in 
the amount of five hundred acres, and Nathaniel Perkins in the 
amount of seven hundred acres. 

Among the early settlers. 1816-1824, in the town were Nath- 
aniel Perkins, from New Hampton, John Haynes, from I "sbon, 



58S IIISTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 1 1 '^^43 

Richard I. Blanchard, from Haverhill, Ebenezer Fletcher, from 
Charlcstown (No. 4), father of Hiram Adams Fletcher, for a 
long period a prominent member of the Coos bar, and who died 
at Lancaster in 1880, Kimball B. Fletcher, a prominent citizen 
of Lancaster (Mr. Fletcher brought considerable money with 
him from Charlestown ; erected a large saw and grist mill ; in 
tS26 a large barn, and cleared up an extensive farm, and finally 
moved to Colebrook, where he died about i860). General 
Moody Bedel, and General John Bedel of the Mexican war and 
the Rebellion, were among the early settlers, removing from 
Haverhill in 1816. General Bedel rendered very efficient service 
in the war of 1812, commaniling a regiment at Ticonderoga and 
at Lundy's Lane. 

But little attention was paid by the State to this section for 
some twelve years subsequent to this period ; the citizens in 
the mean time having for their mutual protection formed a gov- 
ernment of their own, very democratic in form, having a written 
constitution and code of laws ; the supreme power vested in a 
council of five, annually chosen ; a judiciary system for the col- 
lection of debts and the prevention and punishment of crime ; 
a military company duly organized and equipped — probably more 
as a police force than for offensive or defensive purposes. 

This government continued till 1836, when the governments of 
Lower Canada and of New Hampshire each endeavored to ex- 
ercise jurisdiction over the territory, resulting in the arrest and 
carrying off across the border, by an armed force of twelve men 
from Canada, Richard L Blanchard, a deputy sheriff, for the 
discharge of his duty as such under the laws of New Hampshire, 
and his rescue, on Canadian soil, on the same day by a party of 
mounted men, some sixty in number, from the adjoining towns 
in Vermont and New Hampshire. Two of the Canadian party 
were severely wounded in the melee — one by a pistol shot in 
the groin, the other by a sabre cut in the head. 

This was immediately followed by what is known as the Indian 
Stream war. The 5th company infantry, 24th regiment New 
Hampshire militia, under the old military organization, under 
command of Captain James Mooney, was called out by Adjutant 



1843] ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 589 

General Low and stationed at Fletcher's Mills, to protect the 
inhabitants against the encroachments of the Canadian author- 
ities. The whole difficulty was happily terminated by the treaty 
before referred to. 

From its incorporation in 1843, to i860, the increase in pop- 
ulation was only about fifty. At the commencement of the 
Rebellion the town contained four hundred and fifty inhabi- 
tants, — yet this small number furnished seventy men to aid 
our country in the hour of its peril, being largely represented 
in the 2nd and 13th New Hampshire regiments. Amos and 
Simon Merrill were the first to enlist at the first call for three 
months, and re-enlisted, before the expiration of their term, for 
three years, or during the war. The former was shot dead on 
the field at the first battle of Bull Run. The last mentioned, 
after having been engaged in thirteen regular battles, lost a leg 
at Gettysburg, and was lately doing good manual labor in clear- 
ing up a new farm in the town. A fearful fatality seemed 
to decimate the ranks of the Pittsburg soldiers, — -shown by 
desolate homes and the mutilated and scarred veterans who 
returned. 

From the close of the war of the Rebellion, Pittsburg 
has slowly but steadily gained in population and material 
prosperity. 

At a special convention of the Protestant Episcopal churches 
of New Hampshire, held October 4, 1843, after the death of 
Bishop Griswold of the Eastern Diocese, a motion to elect a 
separate bishop barely prevailed, and Rev. Carlton Chase, of 
Bellows Falls, Vermont, was chosen. 

A church and parsonage had been built at Strawberry Bank, in 163S, and 
fifty acres of land had been given as endowment soon afterwards. Rev. 
Ricliard Gibson was called as rector, but was banished from the colony in 
1642, by Massachusetts authority. Ninety years afterward, in 1732, a parish 
was organized at Portsmouth, and (^leen's Chapel begun. Rev. Arthur 
Browne was rector. Of six hundred families in Portsmouth in 1741, less than 
sixty conformed to the Episcopal Church, but all the Churchmen in New 
Hampshire were his parishioners, and he administered the charge with faith- 
ful diligence from 1736 till his death in 1773. He was helped in the itineracy 
by his son Marmaduke, from 1755 to 1762, and by Rev. Moses Badger trom 
1767 to 1774. In 176S there were eleven hundred and thirty-two souls under 
his care. 



59° HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [^^43 

A second parish was organized in 1773, at Claremont, by Churchmen from 
Connecticut. The building tlien erected still stands in the western part ot" 
the town. Rev. Ranna Cossit was rector from 1773 to 1785. 

The third parish was formed at Holderness. 

During the Revolution the Church of England in New Hampshire was- 
abolished. The war over, the need of organization began to be much felt. 
Valuable property was at stake, over forty thousand acres of land having been 
reserved for the endowment of future parishes by Governor Benning Went- 
worth. Unfortunately the larger part of the land endowment was ultimately 
lost, a small amount only having been saved to help the diocesan work. 

In 1789 New Hampshire was represented at a meeting of six clergymen in 
•Salem, Massachusetts, when Dr. Bass was elected bishop of the two States. 
Rev. John C. Ogden was rector at Portsmouth from 17S6 to 1793. Rev. Robert 
Fowle was rector at Holderness from 1789 '.o 1847. A fourth parish was or- 
ganized at Cornish, in 1793, through the efforts of a Daitmouth student. 
Philander Chase, the future missionary bishop. 

The diocesan history begins with the meeting at Concord, in August, 1S02, 
of the first convention, at which were present the rectors of Portsmouth, 
Claremont, and Holderness, and two lay delegates each from Portsmouth, 
Holderness, and Cornish. Rev. Joseph Willard, of Portsmouth, presided: 
Rev. Daniel Barber, of Claremont, a " remarkable man, able, ambitious, un- 
wise," would not consent to the proposed union, but advocated a union with 
the Vermont churches. Mr. Barber was in harmony witli the diocese in 1809. 

Hopkinton became a parish in 1803; Plainfield in 1S04. To these were 
soon joined Drewsville (Walpole), Charlestown, Concord, Dover, and Man- 
chester. In 1810 there were 151 communicants; in 1820, 198; in 1840, 394. 

From 1812, for thirty years, the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire en- 
joyed the superintendence of Bishop Griswold. 

Bishop Chase was consecrated in October, 1844, and served 
the diocese faithfully and wisely until his death in January, 
1870. He left twenty-three parishes where he had found 
twelve ; twenty-one clergymen instead of eleven ; 1350 commu- 
nicants instead of 500. 

In May, 1870, the convention elected, as successor to Bishop 
Chase, Rev. William W. Niles, D. i)., ^ professor of Latin in 
Trinity College, Hartford ; and he was consecrated at Concord 
the following September. There were, in 1887, twenty-two 
parishes, thirteen missions, thirty-seven clergymen, and 2635 
communicants. 

Among the prominent clergymen of the Protestant Epis- 

■ Right Reverend William W. Niles, D. D., son of Daniel L. and Delia (Woodruff) Niles, was 
bom in Hatley, Province of Quebec, May 24, 1832; graduated at Trinity College in 1851 ; and 
received the degree of Doctor of Divinity both from Trinity College and from Dartmouth College. 



1844] AXTISLAVERY AGITATION. 59I 

copal church of New Hampshire have been Rev. Dr. Isaac G. 
Hubbard, of Clareinont, Rev. Dr. James H. Eames, of Concord, 
Rev. Dr. M. A. Herrick, of Tilton, famed for his scholarship, 
and Rev. Dr. Burroughs, of Portsmouth. 

John H. Steele was elected governor in 1844. 

Governor Steele was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 
January, 1789, and was of Scotch-Irish stock. He settled in Pet- 
erborough in 181 1, without funds and without friends, and went 
to work at his trade of making chairs and gigs. He had me- 
chanical skill and genius. He was soon a manufacturer himself, 
instead of laboring for others; and he put in operation the first 
power-loom in the State and built and superintended a large 
cotton mill in West Peterborough. He represented Peter- 
borough in 1S29; was councillor in 1840 and 1841. He was re- 
elected governor in 1845. After retiring from office he led a 
quiet life on his farm and in the village, and had great influence 
in the town, exercised for its best interests and welfare. Hi 
died in July, 1865. 

In 1845 happened the memorable contest between John P. Hah 
and Franklin Pierce. Mr. Hale, a native of Rochester, a grad 
uate of Bowdoin College, 1827, had entered the political field in 
1832, when he was sent to the legislature and became one of the 
most able and eloquent supporters of the Democratic party, 
receiving the election to Congress in 1843. There he soon be- 
came prominent from his anti-slavery sentiments, and took a 
leading part in the presidential campaign of 1844. He differed 
from the accepted sentiments of his party, which had for sixteen 
years had an unbroken sway and remorselessly cut down every 
man who dared to oppose its declared will. The legislature in 
session the previous year had instructed the New Hampshire 
delegation to favor the admission of Texas as a slave State. 
Mr. Hale met these resolutions with defiance. He stood by his 
record he had made against any further strengthening" of the 
slave power. 

' Few men have sliown such g,-ealness of soul and loyalty to convictions 
under such temptations. While most men would have vielded, Mr. Hale did 
'J, H Lla, 



592 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1845 

not falter; but at once wrote his celebrated letter to the people of New Hamp- 
shire, against the action of the legislature in its resolutions, in which, after 
setting forth the aims and purposes of annexation, and the reasons given bv 
the advocates and supporters of the measure, he declared them to be " emi- 
nently calculated to provoke the scorn of earth and the judgment of Heaven." 
He said he would never consent by any agency of his to place the country in 
the attitude of annexing a foreign nation for the avowed purpose of sustain- 
ing and perpetuating human slavery; and if they were favorable to such a 
measure, they must choose another representative to carry out their wishes. 

The Democratic State Committee immediately issued a call for the re-as- 
sembling of the Democratic Convention at Concord, on the 12th of February, 
1845, and every Democratic paper which could be prevailed upon to do so 
opened its battery of denunciation, calling upon tlie convention to rebuke 
and silence Mr. Hale. To show what efforts were made to crush him it need 
only be said that such leaders of the party as Franklin Pierce, who had been 
his warm friend ever since they were fellow students in college, went forth 
over the State to organize the opposition. At Dover he called in the leaders 
of the party, and the editor of the Dover Gazette, who had taken such strong 
ground against annexation, and under their influence the Inizettc changed 
sides and went over to Mr. Hale's enemies. 

He then went to Portsmouth and brought over the leaders there, with ihi 
exception of John L. Hayes, then clerk of the United States Court. The same 
result followed at Exeter, with the exception of Hon. Amos Tuck. In th's 
■way the convention was prepared to throw overboard Mr. Hale and put 
another name on the ticket in place of his. Expecting no other fate when he 
wrote his letter, Mr. Hale remained at his post in Congress, and only assisted 
his friends from that point, making arrangements at the same time to enter 
upon the practice of law in New York city upon the close of his term. But 
resolute friends who believed with him rose up in all parts of the State to 
defeat the election of John Woodbury, who had been nominated in the place 
of Mr. Hale. Prominent among these, in addition to those named above, 
were Nathaniel D. Wetmore of Rochester, John Dow of Epping, George G. 
Fogg, then of Gilmanton, James M. Gates of Claremont, James Peverly of 
Concord, John Brown of Ossipee, George W. Stevens of Meredith, John A. 
Rollins of Moultonborough, James W. James of Deerfield, N. P. Cram of 
Hampton Falls, and Samuel B. Parsons of Colebrook, with others of like 
stamp, who organized the first successful revolt against the demands of the 
slave power, which, until then, had been invincible. Through their efll'orts 
Woodbury, the nominee of the convention, failed to secure the majority over 
all others needed to elect him, and another election was called to fill the va- 
cancy. Great excitement pervaded the State during the canvass, into which 
Mr. Hale entered with spirit, giving full play to all those characteristics 
which made him the foremost orator of the State before the people, as he had 
been before juries. 

The canvass opened in Concord in June, on the week for the assembling of 
the legislature, in the Old North church. To break the force and effect of 



1 8451 ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 593 

Mr. Hale's speech there, the Democratic leaders determined that it should be 
answered upon the spot, and selected Franklin Pierce for the work. On his 
way up to the church, Mr. llale saw no people in the streets, and he began 
to fear there might be a failure in the expected numbers in attendance, as 
there had been oi.ce before in the same place in 1S40, when he and other 
leaders of the partv were to address a mass meeting; but when he reached 
the old church, he saw why the streets were vacant : the people had all gone 
early to be sure of getting in, and the house was full to overflowing. Aware 
that he was addressing not only the citizens of Concord and adjoining towns, 
and members of the legislature, but the religious, benevolent, and other or- 
ganizations which always met in Concord on election week, he spoke with 
more than his usual calmness and dignity. He created a profound impres- 
sion, and made all feel, whether agreeing with him or not, that he had acted 
from a high sense of public duty and conviction. 

Mr. Pierce, who had few equals as a speaker, saw the marked effect of Mr. 
Hale's address, and spoke under great excitement. He was bitter and sarcas- 
tic in tone and matter, and domineering and arrogant in his manner, if not 
personally insulting. The convention was wrought up to the highest pitch 
of excitement when Mr. Hale rose to reply. He spoke briefly, but effectively, 
and closed by saying : — 

" I expected to be called ambitious, to have my name cast out as evil, to be 
traduced and misrepresented. I have not been disappointed ; but if things 
have come to this condition, that conscience and a sacred regard for truth 
and duty are to be publicly held up to ridicule, and scouted without rebuke, 
as has just been done here, it matters little whether we are annexed to Texas, 
or Texas is annexed to us. I may be permitted to say that the measure of 
my ambition will be full, if when my earthly career shall be finished and my 
bones be laid beneath the soil of New Hampshire, when my wife and chil- 
dren shall repair to my grave to drop the tear o£ affection to my memory, they 
may read on my tombstone, ' He who lies beneath surrendered office, place, 
and power, rather than bow down and worship slavery.'" 

The scene which followed can be imagined, but not described, as round 
after round of applause greeted this close. At the end of the canvass, in 
September, with three candidates in the field, there was again no election. 
A second effort in November ended with a like result. No other attempt was 
made until the annual March election of 1S46, when full tickets were placed 
in the field by the Democrats, Whigs, Free-Soilers, and Independent Demo- 
crats. The issue of no more slave territory was distinctly made ; and a 
canvass such as the State had never known before, in which Mr. Hale took 
the leading part, resulted in a triumphant vindication of his course, and the 
complete overthrow of the Democratic party, which was beaten at all points. 
Mr. Hale was elected to the House, from Dover, on the Independent ticket, 
and on the opening of the session was made speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and during the session was elected United States Senator for the 
full term of six years. 

During this session of the legislature an incident took place which ex- 
hibited the independent spirit of the man. Dr. Low, a member from Dover, 



594 msTOKV ov new Hampshire. [1846 

introduced resolutions upon the tariff, slavery, and annexation, taking the 
ultra-Whig view of the tariff question, and intended to bring Mr. Hale and 
his friends to their support as the condition upon which he could have the 
vote of a considerable portion of the Whig party. But instead of yielding his 
convictions for the consideration of their support, he and his friends declared 
they would submit to no shackles; they had fought successfully against the 
tyranny of one political organization, and no allurements of a senatorship 
should stifle their convictions and bind their judgment to the dictations of 
another. Much excitement followed, but the counsels of the liberal Whigs 
prevailed. The resolutions were not called up until after the senatorial elec- 
tion, when Mr. Hale left the speaker's chair and offered amendments which 
were adopted after a strong speech by him in their favor. He was supported 
by his old friend and instructor, Daniel M. Christie of Dover, also a member 
of the House, who had done much to quiet the opposition and induce it to 
vote for Mr. Hale. 

Mr. Hale was nominated as the Free-Soil candidate for the 
presidency in 1847, but declined it ; and again the honor was 
tendered to him in 1852, when he received 155,850 votes. In 
1855 he was again elected to the Senate to fill vacancy caused by 
death of Charles G. Atherton, and was re-elected in 1858 for a 
full term. After his retirement from the Senate he was minister 
to Spain for four years. He died in 1873. 

Anthony Colby was elected governor in 1846. 

Anthony Colby is known in his native State as a typical 
" New Hampshire man." Born and bred among the granite 
hills, he seemed assimilated to them, and to illustrate in his 
noble, cheerful life the effects of their companionship. His 
great heart, sparkling wit, fine physical vigor, and merry laugh 
made his presence a joy at all times, and welcome everywhere. 
His ancestry on his father's side was of English, and on his 
mother's of Scotch-Irish, origin. 

During the last century his father, Joseph Colby, bought a 
portion of land under the " Masonian grant " from Mr. Minot, 
and settled in New London, where Anthony Colby was born in 
1795. Then the restriction of ownership in the State was that 
"all the white-pine trees be reserved for masting the ships of 
His Majesty's royal navy." Each town was required to set 
apart a portion of land for a meeting-house, and the support of 
the gospel ministry ; for a school-house and the support of a 
school, as well as a military parade ground. 





^^ ^^?^^^^^i-<" 



HOIT. JOHFPEALE 



1840] ANTI-SLAVEKV AGITATION. 595 

In politics, Mr. Colby was always conservative. He was first 
elected a member of the New Hampshire legislature in 1828, 
and afterwards held nearly every higher office of trust in the 
State. Daniel Webster was his personal friend. Their fathers, 
who lived in the same county, only about twenty miles apart, 
were many years associated in the legislature of which they 
were members, from Salisbury and New London. The friend- 
ship between himself, Judge Nesmith, of Franklin, and General 
James Wilson, of Keene, was more than simple friendship, — 
they were delightful companions ; of essentially different cha- 
racteristics, the combination was perfect. Daniel Webster was 
their political chief, and his tacation sometimes found these 
men together at the Franklin " farm-house," and at the chowder 
parties up at the " pond." The Pheni.x Hotel, under the charge 
of Colonel Abel and Major Ephraim Hutchins, was the central 
rendezvous, where a great deal of projected statesmanship, a 
great deal of story telling and fruitless caucusing were indulged 
in, down to the revolution of 1846, when the Democrats lost 
their supremacy by the admission of Texas as a slave State, 
when John P. Hale went into the Senate. When Mr. Colby 
was elected governor, Mr. Webster wrote him earnest congratu- 
lations. 

No Whig had held the office of governor, until the election 
of Anthony Colby, since the election of Governor Bell, an 
interim of seventeen years. Governor Colby being rallied upon 
his one-term office, said he considered his administration the 
most remarkable the State ever had. "Why so.'" was asked ; 
when with assumed gravity he answered : " Because / have 
satisfied the people in o>ie j/ear, and no other governor ever did 
that." 

The city of Manchester was incorporated in 1846. The rise, 
growth and prosperity of this, the largest city in the State, has 
been almost wholly dependent upon its great manufacturing 
interests. There are now in the city five large corporations, 
with an aggregate capital of many million dollars, besides many 
•other manufacturing establishments of less importance. 

In 1830 an examination of the territory bordering on the east 



596 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1846 

bank of the river, a short distance below the falls, developed the 
fact that there were splendid sites for mills at that point. 

A large number of Boston capitalists united and resolved to 
lay the foundations of a great manufacturing town. Accord- 
ingly, in the year 183 1, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company 
was incorporated. The Company secured a title to all the water 
power upon the Merrimack at Manchester, Hooksett, and at 
Garvin's Falls, below Concord. Upwards of fifteen hundred 
acres of land on the east side of the river at Manchester were 
purchased. 

Those lands extended from the falls south for a distance of 
about a mile and a half, and a mile in an easterly direction. A 
new town was laid out, the streets crossing each other at right 
angles. A new stone dam and two canals with guard locks were 
also constructed. 

It was the plan of the company to furnish other companies 
with sites and power for mills, and to erect such mills to be op- 
erated on their own account, and at the same time to sell their 
lands for stores, dwelling-houses, etc. The first mill in the new 
town was erected by the Amoskeag Company for the Stark Cor- 
poration in 1838. The Amoskeag Company also built a machine 
shop and foundry the same year, and in 1839 the company 
built two mills on their own account. In 1843 the company 
erected another mill. These were followed by others at various 
times, until now the company is said to be the largest in the 
world. 

The Stark Mills Company was incorporated in 1838. 

The Manchester Mills enterprise was originally incorporated 
in 1839 by the name of the Merrimack Mills. In 1849 its name 
was changed to the Manchester Print Works. During the war, 
and a few years succeeding, this company was very successful, 
and very high dividends were paid. But in a year or two later 
misfortunes overtook the company, until finally the whole prop- 
erty was sold to pay the debts, and a new company which was 
incorporated purchased the property and commenced great im- 
provements. 

The Langdon Mills Company was incorporated in 1857 and 



1846] ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 59/ 

commenced operation in iS6o. The success of the company 
for several years during and succeeding the war was very re- 
markable. About the year 1865 an annual dividend of fifty 
per cent, upon the capital stock was paid. 

Among the other manufacturing interests at Manchester are 
the Manchester Locomotive Works, managed by Hon. Aretas 
Blood, in which as many as seven hundred hands have been 
employed, and Hon. A. P. Olzendam's Hosiery Mill, which 
employs three hundred hands. 

Abraham P.Olzendam was born in Barmen, Prussia, October lo, iSii. His 
father was a chemist. At the age of eighteen he was initiated into the mys- 
teries of his father's business; proved an apt scholar; and soon became an 
expert in the application of scientific principles to the mixing of colors and 
the dyeing of fabrics. His active mind found congenial study in political econ- 
omy. The demands of his countrymen for liberty were seconded by him, and 
with the enthusiasm of youth he entered heartily into the plans of his fellow 
patriots for the amelioration of liis country. Hopeless of accomplishing the 
herculean task of freeing his people, despairing of gaining at home that place 
among his fellows which his inborn ability warranted him in demanding, he 
quietly bade farewell to his fatherland, and embarked for America at the age 
of twenty-seven. The good ship, " General Washington," brought him over, 
and he landed in New York. June 13, 1S48, hastening at once to the consti- 
tuted authorities to signify his intention of becoming a citizen of the United 
States. 

His skill as a dyer readily gave him employment in the neighborhood of 
Boston. Within a few months he launched his own commercial bark, enter- 
ing into business on his own account. Various fortunes attended his efforts 
for the next ten years. In 1S5S he became a citizen of Manchester, at first 
accepting employment in the Manchester Mills, afterward in the Amoskeag 
Mills, until 1S63, when he commenced the manufacture of hosiery by the 
use of machinery. From a small beginning he has built up a very extensive 
business, employing more than three hundred operatives at the mill, and 
affording pin money for a thousand women for miles around, using nearly a 
thousand tons of wool every year, and preparing for the market about one 
hundred thousand pairs of stockings each month. 

In iSSS he purchased the Namaska Mill, in which he carries on his exten- 
»ive manufacturing operations. 

Such mechanical skill and business capacity as his was sure to win for him 
a foremost place in commercial pursuits. Mr. Olzendam cast his first vote 
for Franklin Pierce. Since then he has been a Republican, joining the party 
at its very outset, and ever being a quiet worker for its interests. In 1S73 and 
1874 he was elected to represent Manchester in the legislature. In 18S5 he 
was a member of the State Senate, but has never sought political preferment. 



59S HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1847 

For many years he has been identified with the First Unitarian Church of 
Manchester, having served several terms as director, and frequently acting on 
important committees when executive action was demanded. In 186; Mr. 
Olzendam became an Odd Fellow, and a few years later was initiated into the 
mysteries of Masonry, and now gracefully wears the title of Sir Knight. 
Since its organization, in 1S74, he has been a trustee of the People's Savings 
Bank. 

October i, 1851, he was married to Theresa Lohrer, of Dresden, Saxony. 
They were the parents of eight children, of whom Clementine Olzendam, 
Alexander H. Olzendam, Gustavus Olzendam, Sidonia Olzendam, and Louis 
Olzendam survive and reside at home. After the death of the mother of these 
children Mr. Olzendam was joined in marriage to Mrs. Susie J. Carling. 

The family occupy a spacious residence in the northeast part of Manchester, 
surrounded by grounds carefully cultivated. 

"Mr. Olzendam has risen to a very honorable position in Manchester, pri- 
marily by closely attending to his business as a manufacturer, and since then, 
in addition, by showing himself an excellent citizen, liberal, high-minded, 
■disposed to do what he can to aid every benevolent object and to further the 
growth and prosperity of the city. Manchester is better for his coming and 
his staying. A genial gentleman, he enjoys the acquaintance and confidence 
of a large number of warm personal friends. Many men, as fortune favors 
them, withdraw more and more from societ}', and give out less and less 
towards it, but society feels his prosperity and enjoys with him his success."' 

Such is the welcome which New Hampshire extends to men of foreign 
birth who settle in the State. 

In 1847 J. W. Williams was elected governor. 

Hon. Jared Warner Williams was born in West Woodstock, 
Conn., in 1796. He was graduated at Brown University in 
1818 ; read law at the Litchfield (Conn.) Law School ; and came 
to Lancaster in 1822, where he commenced the practice of his 
profession, and was a resident until his death. 

Mr. Williams was elected representative of Lancaster in 
1830-31 ; was register of Probate from 1832 to 1837; in 1833 
he was chosen to the State Senate; in 1834 and 1835 he was 
president of that body ; in 1837 he entered Congress from the 
"Sixth District," and served four years. He was governor of 
the State in 1847-48 ; in 1852 was made judge of Probate ; in 
1853 he filled the vacancy in the United States Senate occasioned 
by the death of Hon. C. G. Atherton ; in 1S64 he was a delegate 
to the Chicago convention. In addition to these political distinc- 
tions, Governor Williams received the degree of A. M. from 

' Clark's History of Manchester. 



1849] ANTI-SLAVERV AGITATION. 599 

Dartmouth College in 1825 ; and that of LL. D. from Brown Uni- 
versity in 1852. He died in September, 1864, aged sixty-eight 
years. He was a gentleman of the highest type of character, 
winning social qualities, and rare abilities. His various honors 
sat easy upon him, and vanity did not manifest itself. 

The Mexican war commenced in the spring of 1846. General 
Zachary Taylor soon after led an expedition into Mexico and 
won the battles of Palo Alto, Monterey, and Buena Vista. 
Among his officers were Lieutenant Joseph H. Potter and 
Major W. W. S. Bliss. 

In General Winfield Scott's successful invasion of the country 
the following year, many New Hampshire men won distinction : 
Colonel Franklin Pierce, Dr. John D. Walker, Captains T. ¥. 
Rowe, E. A. Kimball, J. W. Thompson, and Daniel Batchelder, 
Lieutenants George Bowers, John H. Jackson, Thomas J. 
Whipple, Daniel H. Cram, Thomas P. Pierce, John Bedel, and 
most of the non-commissioned officers and privates of companies 
C a!id H of the 9th regiment United States army. 

The Mexican war having resulted in large acquisition of ter- 
ritory by the United States, and gold having been discovered on 
the Pacific Slope, a great drain was made on the energetic young 
men of the State, who rushed to California to better their for- 
tunes. For fifty years the fertile prairies of the West had also 
been steadily alluring not only the young men but whole families 
from their hillside and valley farms. 

Samuel Dinsmoor, jr., was elected governor in 1849. 

Samuel Dinsmoor, jr., v/as admitted to the bar in 18 19, but 
was not enrolled as an attorney at Keene until 1823. He was 
the son of Governor Samuel Dinsmoor; born May 8, 1799; grad- 
uated at Dartmouth College in 181 5 ; and was associated with 
General James Miller in the practice of law in Arkansas. In 
1826 and 1827, and in 1829 and 1830, he was clerk of the Sen- 
ate ; for several years he was postmaster ; the cashier of Ash- 
uelot Bank, later its president ; in 1849, i^SO. ^i^tl 185 i gover- 
nor of New Hampshire. He died February 24, 1869. 

In 1850 the expenses of the legislative, executive, and judi- 
ciary departments of the State amounted to $36,142. 



600 IlISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1S5O 

There were three trains daily each way between Concord and 
Boston, both by way of the Concord Railroad and of the Man- 
chester and Lawrence. Passengers taking the ten a. m. train 
from Concord arrived in Boston in time to take the four p. ^r. 
steamboat train for New York. By the Northern Railroad one 
could reach Montpelier and Wells River; by the Contoocook, 
Hillsborough ; by the Boston, Concord and Montreal, Lake 
Winnipiseogee, by way of Meredith Bridge. In the United 
States at that time there were seven thousand si.\ hundred and 
seventy-seven miles in operation. Nathaniel White and Benja- 
min P. Cheney had charge of the express business over most of 
the New Hampshire Railroads. John Gibson conducted the 
Eagle Coffee House, and John Gass the American House. 

A constitutional convention met in Concord early in Novem- 
ber, 1850. Of the two hundred and ninety members, one hun- 
dred and fifty-seven were farmers, twenty-nine lawyers, and 
thirty merchants. Franklin Pierce was chosen president, re- 
ceiving two hundred and fifty-seven votes out of tvi-o hundred 
and si.xty-four cast ; and Thomas J. Whipple was chosen secretary 
almost as unanimous!)-. Among the delegates were — 

Willi.Tm Plumei'. Jr. Joel Eastman. 

Gilman Marston. Cyrus Barton. 

Uri Lamprey. George Minot. 

Bradbury Bartlett. Jonatlian Eastman. 

Levi Woodbury, Henry Putney. 

Ichabod Bartlett. George W. Nesmith. 

Icbabod Goodwin. Jesse Gault, Jr. 

Thomas E. Sawyer. Asa P. Gate. 

Benning W. Jenness. Aaron Whittemore. 

James Bell. Andrew Wallace. 

N. G. Upham. Isaac Spaulding. 

L. W. Noyes. Charles G. Atherton. 

George W. Hammond. William Ilai'.e. 

Levi Chamberlain. Dyer H. Sanborn. 

Ira Whitcher. William P. Weeks. 

Edwin D. Sanborn. Hazen Bedel. 

The State was strongly Democratic at that time, the State 
Senate that year having only one in the opposition. After a 
session of about fifty days a new constitution was agreed upon 



1852] ANTI-SLAVEKV AGITATION. 60I 

and submitted to the jieople ; but it found no favor witli tlie 
Whigs, and was rejected. 

The Democratic State convention met at Concord during the 
session of the legislature and nominated John Atwood, of New 
Boston, as their candidate for governor. From some injudicious 
statements of their candidate, he was repudiated by the party, 
led by the Cheshire Republican, Nezvport Argus, Dover GaactU, 
and Concord Patriot, and upon the reassembling of the conventio'. 
in 1851 he received only three of the two hundred and five votes 
cast. A serious bolt was the consequence, and Samuel Din.s 
moor, jr., the Democratic candidate, lacked several thousan;'' 
votes of a majority. 

In the nomination of 1S51 the Democratic party at lirst mad'=' 
choice of Luke \\'oodbury, of Antrim, for their standard beare: 
the following year, but he "was gathered to his fathers" la 
August. 

Dr. Noah Martin was elected governor in 1852. Dr. Martin 
was a descendant of the Scotch-Irish settlers of Londonderry 
He was born in Epsom in July, 1801, graduated at the Dar'c 
mouth Medical College in 1824, and the next year settled in 
Great Falls. In 1834 he settled in Dover. He was represer. 
tative in 1830, 1832, and 1837, and State senator in 1835 and 
1836. He was re-elected governor in 1853. He died in Dover 
in June, 1880. He was a Democrat, well read on a great variety 
of subjects, proficient in law as well as medicine, and a states- 
man from his native good sense and judgment. 

^The result of the fall elections of 1852 was that Franklin 
Pierce of New Hampshire was elected president, having carried 
twenty-seven States, choosing two hundred and fifty-four elec- 
tors ; General Scott, the Whig candidate, having carried only 
four States — Massachusetts, Vermont, Kentucky, and Teii- 
nessee, choosing forty-two electors. 

President Fr.inklia Pierce, son of Governor Benjamin Pierce, was born in 
Hillsborougli in November, 1S04; graduated from Bowdoin College in 1SJ4; 
studied law with Judge Woodbury and Judge Parker; was a zealous Demo- 
crat; elected to represent Hillsborough in 1S29; speaker of the House in 1S32 
ai d 1S33 ; elected to Congress in 1S33, to ^^^ Senate in 1837, resigning in 1S42. 
' W. D. Northend. 



602 HISTOUY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['853 

lie declined the position of attorney-general of the United States in 1S46. 
He volunteered in a Concord comjiany for the Mexican war; was appointed 
colonel of the yth Regiment United States army; brigadier-general in 
March, 1S47; was wounded at battle of Contreras in August; resigned in 
December at the close of the war. In 1S50 he was president of the convention 
for revising the constitution of the State. " The special feature of his inau- 
gural address was the support of slavery in the United States, and the an- 
nouncement of his determination that the Fugitive Slave Act should be 
strictly enforced. This was the keynote of his administration, and pregnant 
witli vital consequences to the country. From it came during his term the 
Ostend conference and ' manifesto,' the repeal of the Missouri compromise, 
and the troubles in Kansas and Nebraska, which crystallized the opposing- 
forces into the Republican party, and led later to the great Rebellion." ' He 
died in October, 1S69. 

- The countess of Rumford died in December, 1852, at the age of seventy- 
eight. The Roll'e-Rumford house occupies a very pleasant site but a few rods- 
from the Merrimack river, on a slight eminence that overlooks that stream. 

Her home, the Rolfe-Rumford house, was built in 1764 by Colonel Ben- 
jamin Rolfe. Colonel Rolfe was a great man in the colony in ante-Revolu- 
tionary days, the son of Henry Rolfe, one of the original grantees of Pena- 
cook. He was a man of scholarly attainments, having graduated at Harvard 
in 172S. Able, wealthy, and enterprising, he was a man of authority, holding' 
the highest offices of the settlement. He was the town clerk of Rumford for 
many years, and was the first one chosen to represent the town in the Gen- 
eral Assembly of New Hampshire. In 1745 he held the commission of colo- 
nel in the province under Governor Benning Wentworth, By inheritance 
and his own industry he acquired a large property, and was by far the \vealth- 
iest person in Concord. He lived according to his means, alter the fashion 
of the day. His large estate was worked by slaves and servants to the num- 
ber of a dozen. He purchased and owned the first chaise ever used in Con- 
cord, in 1767. It had, says Dr. Bouton, a standing canvas top, and probably 
cost about $60, which would be about equal to the sum of $240 in these days. 

This old-time magnate lived a bachelor until he was nearly sixty. At that 
age he lost his heart to Miss Sarah Walker, the oldest daughter of Rev. Tim- 
othy Walker, who was thirty years his junior. Miss Walker was beautiful 
and accomplished. The Rolfes at the " South End," and the Walkers at the 
■'North End," with the Collins, Eastmans, Bradleys, and Stickneys between, 
were the aristocracy of old Rumford. They lived differently from the other 
people, usurped most of the offices, and controlled the business and social 
interests of the town. The marriage, therefore, of Colonel Rolfe and Miss 
Walker must have been one of the grand events of the colony. It occurred 
in the year 1769. That this union of May and December was otherwise than 
a happy one we have no reas jn for believing, but it was very short. In Dec- 
ember, 1771, Colonel Rolfe died, leaving his widow the wealthiest person in 
the settlement. 

^ Encyclopitlia T^rilannica. - Fred Myron Colby. 



1853] ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 605 

About this time there came to Concord, from Woburn. Mass., a young man 
by the name of Benjamin Thompson. Though a mere youtli in years, he was 
wondertully matured in mind. He was a good scholar, and developed hand- 
somely in personal appearance. He was engaged at once as the teacher of 
Rum ford Academy. 

Thompson was a philosopher by nature, and nothing could divert him 
from his philosophical researches and mechanical pursuits. Handy with 
tools and full of inventive genius, he spent his spare time in all sorts of ex- 
periments on subjects suggested by his reading. Naturally gay and fond of 
society, he entered into all the manly sports of the time while at Concord. 
He was the most expert skater and swimmer among the young men. At the 
social evening parties he was a favorite. With his experiments in chemistry 
and philosophy, his feats of swimming and skating upon the Merrimack 
and Horse-shoe Pond, his genial and engaging manners at all times and 
places, he lor a time was very popular among old and young at Rumford. 

At Mr. Walker's Thompson often met the young widow, Mrs. Rolfe. They 
married sometime before January, 1773, at Parson Walker's house, and the 
poor schoolmaster became the richest man in Rumford. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson inaugurated a style of living at the Rumford 
house that completely threw in the shade anything of the kind previously. 
While attending a military review at Dover, Thompson attracted the atten- 
tion of Governor Wentworth. 

The distinguished friendship of the royal governor won for Thompson the 
appointment of major in the nth regiment of the New Hampshire militia, 
•over the heads of all the old officers." This gained for him the enmity of 
all his superseded rivals, and of some others who envied him his good fortune. 

In the family mansion was born their daughter, Sarah, the afterward 
benevolent countess of Ramford, October iS, 1774. A few happy, prosper- 
ous months went by. Blest in his fiimily relations, honored for his position 
and his culture, the intimate friend of Wentworth, of Wheelock, the president 
of Dartmouth College, of Parson Walker, and other eminent and learned men. 
Benjamin Thompson seemed riding on the highest wave of prosperity and 
happiness. Upon this brilliant day burst the storm of the Revolution. 

Benjamin Thompson was as yet but twenty-two years of age. His sudden 
rise, his unvarying prosperity, and, more than all, the governor's fiivor, had 
made him enemies, and a grand combination was made to crush him. 
Though inclined to the patriot cause, he was denounced as a Tory. Even the 
influence of the Walkers, who were ardent patriots, and known as such, could 
not save him. Fearing violence from a mob of village patriots, if he remained, 
young Thompson fled from his home in the night. The jealous officers con- 
tinued to malign him, and the rumors spread through the American anny. 
Suspected without cause, and wishing to obtain a commission in the patriot 
army, he demanded an inquiry. It resulted in a drawn verdict. After vainly 
trying to live down the ill odor by zealous army work on the American side, 
and finding himself still in danger from suspicion and hostility, he gave up' 
the patriot cause in disgust, and fled to the British in Boston. 



604 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIKE. ['854 

Going to England at the close of the Revolution, he obtained service 
under the elector of Bavaria, and upon his departure was knighted, by which 
he became Sir Benjamin Thompson. In the public garden of Bavaria his 
statue stands, of heroic size, as the patron genius of the place. The elector 
also honored him by conferring upon him several of the highest offices in the 
empire. He was a member of the Council of State; major-general; knight 
of Poland; commander-in-chief of the army; minister of war; chief of the 
regency in the elector's absence; and count of the Holy Roman Empire. To 
this latter title he added Rumford, in honor of his old home in America. He 
left Bavaria only as minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary to the 
court of St. James, with a pension for life. Count Rumford had never ceased 
his interest in philosophical investigations, and while in England engaged in 
experiments whose fruits came home to every man's kitchen and fireside. 
Lady Sarah Thompson, his wife, died in 1792. Mrs. Thompson's son by her 
first marriage, Paul Rolfe, by inheritance became the owner of the house 
and estate in Concord, and died in July, 1S19, and his half sister became his 
heiress. She saw life as few saw it. She was a queen of society. She was 
never married. Tired of courts and their flatteries, after her return to Amer- 
ica, in 1S45, she spent the remainder of her life in a quiet circle of society, 
aloof from the stir of city life, with an adopted daughter for her companion. 

Governor Nathaniel B. Baker, the son of Lieutenant Abel 
Baker, of Concord, was born in Henniker, Sept. 29, 1819. He 
graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1839; read law 
with Messrs. Pierce and Fowler ; and, from 1841 to 1845, ^^^s 
one of the proprietors and editors of the New Hainpshire Pat- 
riot. In 1841 he was quartermaster of the Eleventh regiment; 
was appointed adjutant of the same in 1842, and held the office 
the following year. In 1844 and 1845 ^^ was aide to Governor 
Steele, with rank of colonel. In 1846 he was appointed clerk 
of the Court of Common Pleas, and of the Superior Court for 
the county of Merrimack. He was representative from Concord, 
and speaker of the House of Representatives, in 1850 and 1851, 
and elector of president and vice-president in 1852. In 1854 he 
was elected governor of New Hampshire, and served as chief 
magistrate one year. Subsequently he took up his residence 
in Clinton, Iowa, having an appointment as attorney for the 
railroad in that vicinity. At the commencement of the war he 
was appointed adjutant-general of Iowa, and held that office, 
having performed its duties during the trials of the Rebellion 
with his usual promptness and energy, until the close of the 
war.^ 

' AdjuLlnt-generars Report. 



iSSS] AXTI-SLAVERV AGITATION. 605 

In 1852 the Democratic party seemed strongly intrenched in 
power in New Hampshire, and were arrogant and overbearing. 
The Know-Nothing movement was introduced to break their 
solid front : and well it succeeded. 

At the spring election in 1855 Ralph Metcalf was elected 
governor by the Know-Nothing party. Governor Metcalf was 
born in Charlestown in November, 1798, passed his youth on the 
farm of his father, who was a veteran of the Revolution, gradu- 
ated at Dartmouth College in 1823, read law, and settled in New- 
port and later in Claremont. In 1831 he was elected secretary 
of state, moved to Concord, and held the office until 1838- 
He declined the office of attorney-general while he was secretary, 
and during a temporary residence in Washington refused the 
place of editor of one of the leading journals of that city. In 
1S45 he was living at Newport, when he was appointed register 
of Probate for the county of Sullivan. He was a representative 
in 1852 and in 1853, the latter year serving on the committee 
for codifying the laws. He was re-elected in 1856. He died 
at Claremont in August, 1S58. Governor Metcalf was a great 
lover of romance, read and reread the standard authors, and 
wielded a ready and humorous pen. He was fond of social life, 
and contributed freely to its promotion. 

^ In 1855 the legislature was called upon to elect two United 
States senators. For the first time in a quarter of a century, 
with a single exception, the Democratic party was in a minority. 
The opposition was composed of the Whig party, then on the 
point of dissolving, the American party, commonly known as 
the " Know-Nothing " party, and the Free-Soil party. These 
elements, a year later, were fused in the Republican party. 
By common consent Hon. John P. Hale was nominated for the 
short term, and the contest for the long term was between Mr. • 
Clark and the Hon. James Bell. In the senatorial caucus the 
latter was nominated and subsequently elected by the legisla- 
ture. The contest, although warm, was a friendly one, so that 
when, two years later, in 1857, the legislature was called to fill 
the vacancy in the office occasioned by the death of Senator 

•Judge 1 W. Smith. 



6o6 HISTORY OK NEW HAMPSHIRE. [l8S'> 

Bell, in obedience to the common wishes of their constituents 
the Republican members nominated and the legislature elected 
Mr. Clark. Upon the expiration of his term he was re-elected 
in i860 with little opposition. The ten years spent by Senator 
Clark in Congress constituted the most eventful period in the 
history of the Republic. Me witnessed the rise, progress, and 
overthrow of the Rebellion. He was a firm supporter of the 
various war measures adopted for the suppression of the Rebel- 
lion, and had the confidence of President Lincoln and Secretary 
Stanton. He failed of a re-election in 1866, as his colleague. 
Senator Hale, had done two years before, not from any lack of ap- 
preciation of the invaluable services they had rendered the coun- 
try, nor of the honor they had conferred upon the State by their 
course in Congress, but because the rule of rotation in office had 
become so thoroughly ingrafted into the practice of the Republi- 
can party in the State that a departure from it was not deemed 
wise, even in the persons of these eminent statesmen. 

In the summer of i866 a vacancy occurred in the office of district judge of 
the United States District Court for the district of New Hampshire, and Sena- 
tor Clark was nominated for the position by President Johnson, and unani- 
mously confirmed liy tlie Senate. He tliereupon resigned liis seat in tl'.e 
Senate and entered upon the discharge of his judicial duties. The wisdom of 
his selection has been justified by his career upon the bench. Tlie office of 
district judge does not afford such opportunity for public distinction as the 
bench of some other courts, the jurisdiction of the court being principally 
limited to cases arising under the constitution and laws of the United States. 
New Hampshire, from its size, location, and business relations, furnishes 
only a small amount of business for the federal courts, and not much of that 
generally of public interest. In addition to holding his own court, Judge 
Clark has frequently been called to hold the federal courts in other States in 
the first circuit. He has brought to the discharge of his judicial duties the 
same learning, industry, and interest that characterized his labors at the bar 
and in the Senate. His decisions have commended themselves to the profes- 
sion for their soundness and fairness. 

Daniel Clark was born in Stratham, October 24, 1809, and 
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1834. 

St. Paul's school, at Concord, was opened in April, 1856, for the 
admission of pupils, having been incorporated the previous year. 
Under the direction of Rev. Dr. Henry A. Coit, the school has 



1857] ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 607 

increased from five pupils in 1856 to three hundred pupils iit 
1888. 

The school is located on a domain of six hundred acres 
pleasantly situated in the valley of Turkey river, two miles 
west of the State House. The buildings erected from time to 
time to meet the wants of the growing school are architecturally 
pleasing to the eye and are charmingly grouped. The chapel, not 
complete in 1888, cost over $100,000, and is said to be the finest 
of its class in the United States. The founder of the school, a 
Boston physician, was desirous of endowing a school of the 
highest class, for boys, "in which they may obtain an education 
which shall fit them for college or business, including thorough 
intellectual training in the various branches of learning ; gymnas- 
tic and manly exercises adapted to preserve health and strengthen 
the physical condition ; such aesthetic culture and accomplish- 
ments as shall tend to refine the manners and elevate the taste; 
together with careful moral and religious instruction." 

The full course of instruction is designed to cover seven years 
and to prepare for admission to the freshman or sophomore 
class in any American college. The school gathers most of its 
pupils from other States ; and its high success has won honor 
for the Episcopal Church which it represents. 

Adjoining the grounds of St. Paul's school, and intimately 
connected with it, is the Diocesan Orphans' Home, the first 
refuge of the kind opened in the State, and always full of chil- 
dren. 

In 1S57, William Haile of Hinsdale was elected governor of 
the State. 

Governor Haile was the standard bearer of the newly or- 
ganized Republican party, whose first national campaign had 
been led by John C. Fremont. The party drew to itself Whigs, 
Free-Soil Democrats, Abolitionists, and all those in opposition 
to the Democratic party. 

Governor Haile was born in Putney, Vermont, in 1807, 
passed his boyhood and early manhood in Chesterfield, and in 
1834 embarked in business in a country store in Hinsdale, with 
small capital but good credit. In 1847 he undertook manufac- 



6o8 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1859 

turing, and was as successful as he had been in trade. His 
honesty and untiring devotion to business insured success. He 
took an active and prominent part in church affairs, and belonged 
to a number of benevolent societies. Though extensively en- 
gaged in business he took a prominent part in political affairs. 
With the exception of two years he represented Hinsdale in the 
legislature from 1846 to 1854. In 1854 and 1855 he was a mem- 
ber of the Senate, being chosen president of that body the latter 
year, and was elected as representative in 1856. He was the 
first successful standard bearer of the Republican party for the 
office of governor. He was re-elected in the year 1858. In 
1873 he removed to Keene, built a fine residence, and took an 
active part in business till his death in July, 1876. 

The panic of 1857 came upon the country with crushing and 
disastrous effect. Every interest was' prostrated ; and the 
president was compelled in his message to Congress to portray 
the disastrous condition of the country in strong colors. Mr. 
Buchanan said : — 

With unsurpassed plenty in all the elements of national wealth, our manu- 
facturers have suspended, our public works are retarded, our private enter- 
prises of different kinds are abandoned, and thousands of useful laborers are 
thrown out of employment and reduced to want. 

Following the panic of 1857 there were four years of "hard 
times." Money was scarce, specie payment was maintained by 
the banks with great difficulty, as the gold from the California 
mines had largely been shipped to Europe to pay adverse bal- 
ances, and new enterprises were few in number and unprofitable 
in result.^ 

Ichabod Goodwin was chosen the governor of New Hamp- 
shire, as the Republican candidate, in the year 1859, and was 
re-elected by the same party in the following year, his second 
term of office having expired June 5, 1861. Born at the close 
of the last century in North Berwick, Maine, he was a ship- 
master for a number of years; settled in Portsmouth, in 1832, 
and established himself as a merchant. He served in the legis- 

' James G. Blaine. 



i 



l86o] ANTI-SLAVEKV AGITATION. 609 

lature of New Hampshire as a member of the Whig party for 
a number of years. He was also a delegate at large from the 
State to the conventions at which Clay, Taylor, and Scott were 
nominated by the Whigs for the presidency, and was a vice- 
president at the two first-named conventions; and he twice 
served in the constitutional conventions of New Hampshire. He 
was the candidate of the Whigs for Congress at several elections 
before the State was divided into Congressional districts. New 
Hampshire was in those days one of the most powerful strong- 
holds of the Democratic party in the country. 

During his administration the war of the Rebellion was com- 
menced. The military spirit of the people of New Hampshire 
had become dormant, and the militia system of the State had 
fallen pretty much to decay, long before the first election of Mr. 
Goodwin to the ofifice of governor. A slight revival of that 
spirit, perhaps, is marked by the organization in his honor, in 
January, i860, of "The Governor's Horse Guards," a regiment 
of cavalry in brilliant uniform, designed to do escort duty to the 
governor, as well as by a field muster of several voluntary organ- 
izations of troops which went into camp at Nashua in the same 
year. But when the call of President Lincoln for troops was 
made in the spring of 1861, the very foundation of a military 
system required to be established. The nucleus itself required 
to be formed. The legislature was not in session and would not 
convene, except under a special call, until the following June. 
There were no funds in the treasury which could be devoted to 
the expense of the organization and equipment of troops, as all 
the available funds were needed to meet the ordinary State ex- 
penditures. The great confidence of the people of New Hamp- 
shire in the wisdom and integrity of Mr. Gocdwin found in this 
emergency full expression. Without requiring time to convene 
the legislature so as to obtain the security of the State for the 
loan, the banking institutions and citizens of the State tendered 
him the sum of §680,000 for the purpose of enabling him to 
raise and equip for the field New Hampshire's quota of troops. 
This offer he gladly accepted ; and averting delay in the proceed- 
ings by refraining from convening the legislature, he, upon his 



6io 



HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[i860 



own responsibility, proceeded to organize and equip troops for 
the field ; and in less than two months he had dispatched to the 
army, near Washington, two well-equipped and well-officered 
regiments. Of this sum of $680,000 only' about $100,000 was 
expended. On the assembling of the legislature that body 
unanimously passed the " Enabling Act," under which all his 
proceedings as governor were ratified, and the State made to 
assume the responsibility. 




VIEW NEAR MEREDITH VILLAGE. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

WAR OF THE REBELLION, 1861-1865.1 

Election of Abraham Lincoln — Seceding States — Firing on Sumter 
— First Regiment — Mason W. Tappan — Old Militia — Governor's 
Horse Guards — Thomas L. Tullock — Second Regi.ment — Gilman 
Marston — J. N. Patterson — Nathaniel S. Berry — Third Reg- 
iment — Enoch Q^ Fellows — John H. Jackson — John Bedel — 
Fourth Regiment — Thomas J. Whipple — Louis Bell — Fifth Reg- 
iment — Edw.vrd E. Cross — Charles E. Hapgood — Edward E. 
Sturtevant — Sixth Regiment — Simon G. Griffin — Henry H. 
Pearson — Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, 
Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth 
Regiments — Colonel Henry O. Kent — Joseph A. Gilmore — Eigh- 
teenth Regiment — Cavalry, Artillery, and Sharpshooters — 
Summary of Number of Volunteers — E. H. Durell — George Ham- 
ilton Perkins. 

TN the fall election of i860 the Republican party was success- 
ful. Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, received one hundred and 
eighty electoral votes for president ; John C. Breckinridge, 
seventy-two ; John Bell, thirty-nine ; Stephen A. Douglas, 
twelve; — and Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, 
pledged to resist the extension of slavery into the Territories, 
when the votes were counted in the United States Senate, was 
declared elected president of the United States. December 20, 
i860, the State of South Carolina, through a popular convention, 
passed an ordinance of secession from the Union In January, 
1861, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and 
North Carolina followed, and adopted similar acts of secession. 
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated March 4, 1861, and imme- 
diately called to his cabinet William H. Seward, as secretary of 
state; Salmon P. Chase, as secretary of the Treasury; Simon 

' The facts in this chapter are largely derived from tlie Adjutant-General's Reports. 



6l2 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 86 1 

Cameron, as secretary of war ; and Gideon Wells, as secretary 
of the navy. 

Early in February forty-two delegates, representing the seven 
seceded States, had assembled at Montgomery, Alabama, and 
organized a Southern Confederacy. Jefferson Davis was elected 
president, and Alexander H. Stevens, vice-president, of the new 
government. 

April 12, 1861, the Confederate forces opened fire on Fort 
Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, which was held by a small garrison 
of loyal men, under command of Major Robert Anderson. The 
news of the attack was flashed over the wires north and west. 
The whole American people were roused as never before. The 
president immediately issued a proclamation calling for seventy- 
five thousand volunteers. The secretary of war made a requisi- 
tion on the State of New Hampshire for one regiment of infan- 
try for three months' service. 

Governor Goodwin directed Adjutant-general Joseph C. Abbott 
to issue the necessary orders calling for the required number of 
volunteers ; and in less than ten days a thousand eager recruits 
were assembled at Concord. Mason W. Tappan was com- 
missioned colonel, Thomas J. Whipple, lieutenant-colonel, and 
Aaron F. Stevens, major. 

After a month of drill on the fair grounds, about a mile east 
of the State House, the First regiment embarked May 25, 1861, 
and proceeded to Washington. Active hostilities were opened 
between the opposing forces of the North and South at the 
battle of Bull Run, July 21 ; a battle which was destined to open 
the greatest struggle of modern times, if not the greatest in the 
history of the world. 

The First formed a part of the Union line, but was many 
miles away from the active operations of that eventful day. The 
regiment was mustered out August 9, 1861. 

Connected with the First regiment were Adjutant Enoch Q. 
Fellows, Quartermaster Richard N. Batchelder, Surgeon Alpheus 
B. Crosby, Captain Louis Bell, Captain Ira McL. Barton, Cap- 
tain Edward E. Sturtevant, Lieutenant Henry W. Fuller, Ser- 
geant-major George Y. Sawyer, Sergeant Daniel B. Newhall, and 
many others who afterward won honor in the service. 



l86l] WAR OF THE REGELLION. 613 

Colonel Mason W. Tappan, who led the First regiment of New 
Hampshire volunteers to the field of battle to help the president 
maintain the integrity of the Union and resist the attacks of 
those rebelling against the government, was a native of Newport, 
and a resident of Bradford. He was born October 20, 1817; 
studied law with Hon. George W. Nesmith ; was in the legisla- 
ture in 1853, 1S54, and 1855, and was elected a member of Con- 
gress the latter year. He served in all six years, and was a fear- 
less defender of Union principles. After his return with the 
First, he was appointed colonel of the Fourth and of the Six- 
teenth regiments, but decided to let younger men take the com- 
mand. He was appointed attorney-general in 1876, and served 
until his death, October 25, 18S6. He was an able lawyer and 
an eloquent public speaker. 

At the breaking out of the war, Ichabod Goodwin was gov- 
ernor of the State ; Moody Currier was a member of the Council, 
Thomas L. Tullock was secretary of state, Allen Tenney was 
deputy secretary, Peter Sanborn was State treasurer, and Asa 
McFarland was State printer ; Daniel Clark and John P. Hale 
were United States senators ; and Gil man Marston, Mason W. 
Tappan, and Thomas M. Edwards, members of Congress. 

The militia consisted of 34,569 men, divided into three divi- 
sions, six brigades, and one regiment. The only really effective 
military organizations at the time were the Amoskeag Veterans 
and the Governor's Horse Guards. Of the latter, George Stark 
was colonel, A. Herbert Bellows, lieutenant-colonel, Henry O. 
Kent, major, Thomas J. Whipple, adjutant. Chandler E. Potter, 
judge advocate, Joseph Wentworth, quartermaster, Charles P. 
Gage, surgeon, J. C. Eastman, assistant surgeon, Henry E. Par- 
ker, assistant chaplain, Frank S. Fiske, sergeant-major, Charles 
A. Tufts, quartermaster-sergeant, Natt Head, chief bugler, 
Stebbins H. Dumas, commissary. True Garland, standard 
bearer. John H. George and Cyrus Eastman were captains ; 
and Edward H. Rollins, Benjamin Grover, Bainbridge Wadleigh, 
and Micajah C. Burleigh, were lieutenants. 

The secretary of state, Thomas L. Tullock, was a native of 
Portsmouth. He was very efficient in aiding Governor Goodwin 



6l4 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [186I 

in arming and equipping the first troops sent from the State to 
suppress the Rebellion. At the expiration of his term of office 
he was appointed navy agent at Portsmouth. At the navy yard 
several thousand workmen were employed, and an immense amount 
of material was jsurchased for the construction of ships of war. 
Among the number launched at the yard during the war, or 
while Mr. Tullock was agent, were the Kearsarge, Franklin, 
Ossipee, Sacramento, Sebago, Mahoska, Sonoma, Conemaugh, 
Pavvtucket, Nipsic, Shawmut, Sassacus, and Agamenticus. Mr. 
Tullock was instrumental in forming the nucleus of the very 
perfect collection of portraits of governors and statesmen which 
adorn the State House. He was afterwards postmaster of the 
city of Washington. He was a student of historical subjects 
and a graceful writer on historical and antiquarian themes. 

Thomas Logan Tullock, son of Captain William and Mary (Neal) Tullock, 
was born in Portsmouth, February 11, 1S20. He received his education at 
the Portsmouth High School, and in early youth embarked in commercial 
pursuits. In 1S49 he was appointed postmaster of Portsmouth, and held the 
office four years. In 1S5S he was elected by the legislature secretary of state, 
and held the office until June, 1S61, when he was appointed navy agent. He 
resigned the latter office in August, 1S65, and accepted the office of secretary 
of the Union Republican Congressional Committee, with headquarters at 
Washington. Upon the election o£ General Grant, Mr. Tullock was appointed 
chief of the appointment division of the Treasury department, and later 
collector of internal revenue for the District of Columbia. He held the office 
until 1876. The next year he was appointed assistant postmaster of Washing- 
ton. In 1SS2 he was appointed postmaster of Washington. He died June 20, 
1883. 

Mr. Tullock was twice married; first, August 29, 1S44, to Emily Estell 
Rogers; second, January 10, 1S66, to Miranda Barney Swain, a native of New 
Hampshire, " whose devotion to our wounded soldiers during the war of the 
Rebellion is gratefully remembered throughout the State." Of his children 
by his first wife, Thomas L. Tullock, jr., paymaster U. S. Navy, was lost on 
the steamer Oneida, in Yokohama, Japan, January 24, 1870; and Seymour 
M. Tullock settled in Washington. By his second marriage he left one son, 
Henry Vanderbilt Tullock. 

Mr. Tullock was an active member of the Methodist church, and was a 
Mason of high degree. 

Upon the first call for troops so many volunteers assembled 
that a camp was established at Portsmouth, and enough enlisted 
to form another regiment. The call came for three hundred 




J^y-o^J^i^.^-^- 



lS6l] WAR OF THE KEUELLIUN. 615 

thousand troops to serve three years ; and most of the men re- 
enlisted. Colonel Thomas P. Pierce, a veteran of the Mexican 
war, resigned ; and the Second regiment was organized, with 
Hon. Oilman Marston as colonel ; Frank S. Fiske, of Keene, 
as lieutenant-colonel ; and Josiah Stevens, Jr., of Concord, as 
major. The regiment left Portsmouth for the seat of war June 
20, 1 86 1. A month later, July 2i, they took pa/t in the battle 
of Bull Run. Early in the fight, Colonel Marston was severely 
wounded, but having had his wound dressed, came again upon 
the field to lead his men. The Second behaved like a veteran 
regiment, but shared in the panic which seized the Northern 
army. The loss of the regiment was seven killed, fifty-six 
wounded, and forty-six prisoners. While in winter quarters the 
commander of the brigade had noticed the guard-house of the 
Second, and considered it altogether too comfortable quarters 
for the prisoners confined there. Accordingly he ordered Col- 
onel Marston to build a dungeon, without so much as a crack or 
an opening anywhere, so that it should be perfectly dark. The 
dungeon was built, and one day General Neaglee went over to 
inspect it. 

" Where is the entrance," said he ; " and how do you get any- 
body into it ? " 

" Oh ! " said Colonel Marston ; " that's not my lookout. I 
obeyed orders to the letter ! How do you like it .' " 

In April, 1862, the Second joined the main army of the Poto- 
mac at Yorktown, and took part in the siege, and in the attack 
on Fort Magruder during the advance on Williamsburg. The 
regiment lost in the battle eighteen killed, sixty-six wounded, 
and twenty-three missing. Captain Leonard Drown was killed. 
Capt:iiii Evarts W. Farr lost an arm, and Captain Edward L. 
Baiicy and Lieutenant Samuel O. Burnham were wounded. At 
the battle of Fair Oaks, one company of the Second lost twenty- 
two killed and wounded out of forty-two taken into the fight. 
The Second took part in the Seven Days' Fight and in the 
retreat to the James River, and in nearly all the actions of the 
famous Peninsular Campaign. 

Having joined Pope's army, the Second formed a part of the 



6l6 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1861 

Union army at the second battle of Bull Run in August, 1862, 
and lost sixteen killed, eighty-seven wounded, and twenty-nine 
missing, out of three humlred and thirty-two men engaged. 

In the spring of 1863 the regiment returned on a furlough to 
Concord. Colonel Marston was appointed brigadier-general, and 
Edward L. Bailey, colonel of the Second. In May they returned 
to the front, having received into their ranks the recruits of the 
Seventeenth, and took part in the battle of Gettysburg, fighting 
in the Peach Orchard. Of the twenty-four officers and three 
hundred and thirty men taken into the fight, nineteen had been 
shot dead, one hundred and thirty-six were wounded, and thirty- 
eight were missing, dead or wounded on the field or prisoners 
in the hands of the enemy — -three-fifths of the whole number 
engaged. 

Early in August, 1863, the Second, in a brigade commanded 
by General Marston, were stationed at Point Lookout to guard 
a depot for prisoners of war, and remained at that post until the 
spring of 1864. 

In the latter part of April the regiment joined the army of 
the Potomac, and took part in the battle of Cold Harbor, losing 
seventy in killed and wounded. This was the last battle of the 
original Second, the men who had not re-enlisted soon after de- 
parting for New Hampshire, where they were mustered out June 
21, 1864. There remained two hundred and fifty men, veterans 
and recruits, under command of Captain J. N. Patterson. In 
the army of the James and in the army of the Potomac for the 
next year, the Second did good service in battle and siege, and 
were mustered out in November, 1865. 

To the Second belonged Corporal Thomas E. Barker, after- 
ward colonel of the Twelfth ; Adjutant S. G. Langley, lieuten- 
ant-colonel of the Fourth ; Captain T. A. Barker, lieutenant- 
colonel of the Fourteenth ; Lieutenant H. B. Titus, colonel of 
thfe Ninth ; Captain S. G. Griffin, brevet major-general; Lieuten- 
ant A. B. Thompson, captain U. S. army and secretary of 
state ; Lieutenant W. H. Prescott ; Captain W. O. Sides, the 
first volunteer of New Hampshire ; Private Orrin N. Head, ad- 
jutant of the Eighth ; Sergeant Welcome A. Crafts, colonel of 



l86l] WAR OF THE REBELLION. 61/ 

the Fifth ; Private Martin A. Hayncs, member of Congress ; 
Chaplain Henrv E. Parker, professor at Dartmouth College. 

Miss Harriet P. Dame attended the regiment as a voluntary 
hospital nurse. 

General Oilman Marston was very popular as commander of 
the Second, and as brigade commander. He descended from 
Thomas Marston, one of the first settlers of Hampton, and was 
born in Orford, August 20, 181 1. He graduated at Dartmouth 
College in 1837, and four years later, having been admitted to 
the bar, he settled in E.xeter. He was frequently elected to the 
legislature, and in 1859 he was elected a member of Congress. 
He was re-elected in 1861, and again in 1865. After the war he 
was frequently elected to the legislature, and " is one of the 
ablest and most distinguished lawyers of the New Hampshire 
bar."i 

Joab N. Patterson, a graduate of Dartmouth College, in i860, 
was appointed colonel of the Second, and brevet brigadier-gen- 
eral for " bravery in battle, and general good conduct throughout 
the war." He was never absent from march, drill, or skirmish. 
After the war he was for many years United States marshal, 
and made his home in Concord. He was born in Hopkinton, 
January 20, 1835. 

Nathaniel S. Berry, of Hebron, was elected governor in March, 
1861, and was inaugurated the following June. He became 
chief magistrate at the most trying time in the history of the 
State. In all he did he was influenced by pure and patriotic 
motives ; his official acts were characterized with care and pru- 
dence, and liis State papers were brief, clear, and wise. He was 
re-elected in 1862, and when he retired from ofifice in June, 1863, 
he carried with him the respect and good wishes of all. During 
his administration all the regiments except the First were sent to 
the front. 

N.ithaniel S. Berry was born in Bath, Maine, September i, 1796; was 
brought in childhood to Lisbon, learned the tanner's trade, and settled in 
Bristol. He was a representative in 1S2S, 1S33, 1S34, 1S37, and 1S54: a State 
senator in 1S35 and 1S36; judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1S41 ; 
judge of Probate in 1S56. In 1S40 he settled in Hebron. 

^ Marston Genealogy*. 



6l8 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [lS6l 

The Third reghnent was recruited throughout the State, and 
was organized at Concord early in August, 1861, and mus- 
tered into the service the last part of the month. So many 
volunteers offered that there was a surplus of two hundred, who 
formed the nucleus of the Fourth. Enoch Q. Fellows, of Sand- 
wich, was commissioned colonel, John H. Jackson, lieutenant- 
colonel, and John Bedel, major. The colonel was a graduate of 
West Point, class of 1844, and a native of Sandwich, where he 
was born June 20, 1825. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he 
was a brigadier-general of the State militia. He commanded 
the Third for about a year. He was afterwards colonel of the 
Ninth, and led that regiment into the battle of Antietam. On 
account of poor health he was soon after obliged to resign. He 
is said to have been "one of the most capable ofificers in the 
army from New Hampshire " during the war. He was faithful 
and attentive to duty, and cool and skilful in action.. He was 
in the legislature in 1868 and 1869. 

Colonel John H. Jackson was a native of Portsmouth, born 
October 20, 18 14. Served through the Mexican war with honor, 
and was in command of the Third for two years. John Bedel, 
of Bath, was also a veteran of the Mexican war, a son of Gen- 
eral Moody Bedel, of the war of 1812, and grandson of General 
Timothy Bedel, of the Revolutionary army. He was born July 
8, 1822, in Indian Stream Territory; was admitted to the bar; 
was in the legislature in 1868 and 1869, and Democratic candi- 
date for governor in 1869 and 1870. He died February 26, 1875. 
The Third left the State early in September, 1861, and took 
part in the expedition against Port Royal, on the coast of South 
Carolina. At Hilton Head Island they did garrison duty through 
the winter. In June, 1862, the regiment was sent to James 
Island, and on the i6th, at Secessionville, received its first bap- 
tism in blood. It had previously lost about a fifth of its number 
by sickness. The regiment went into the fight with twenty-si.x 
officers and five hundred and ninety-seven men, of whom one 
hundred and four were killed and wounded. In October the 
Third took part in the battle of Pocataligo. In the summer of 
1863 the Third formed a part of the investing force about 



l86l] WAR OF THE REBELLION. 619 

Charleston. At the battle of Alorris Island its loss was nine 
killed and thirty-one wounded ; in the assault on Fort Wagner 
the regiment lost fifty-five killed, wounded, and missing, Lieu- 
tenant Colonel John Bedel among the number. For the next six 
months the Third was occupying trenches on Morris Island, 
losing thirty-two killed and wounded. In April, 1864, the Third 
was engaged in an expedition to Florida, and late in the nmnth 
joined the army of the James. The next year was one of con- 
stant battle, skirmish, or march. The regiment was in the 
battle of Drury's Bluff, the capture of Fort Fisher, the siege of 
Petersburg, and at taking of Wilmington, N. C. The regiment 
was mustered out July 20, 1865. 

To the Third belonged Lieutenant-colonel Josiah I. Plimpton, 
killed at Deep Run, Va. ; Lieutenant-colonel James F. Randlett. 
Adjutant Elbridge J. Copp, Surgeon Albert A. Moulton, Captaii, 
Michael T. Donohoe, Captain Richard Ela, killed at Drury'.-' 
Bluff, and Perry Kittredge, D. A. Brown, J. A. Dadmun, S. F 
Brown, George L. Lovejoy, Nathan W. Gove, John C. Linehan^ 
and John W. Odlin, of Concord. 

The Fourth regiment was organized at Manchester, and mus- 
tered into the service September 18, 1861, and a few days later 
left the State for Washington. Thomas J. Wliipple, of Laconia 
was commissioned colonel ; Louis Bell, of P'armington, lieu, 
tenant-colonel ; and Jeremiah D. Drew, of Salem, major. The 
regiment took part in the expedition against Port Royal, and 
occupied Hilton Head Island. During the winter the Fourth 
went to Florida. Colonel Whipple resigned in March, 1862. 
During the summer of 1862 a part of the Fourth occupied St. 
Augustine, and put Fort Marion in good repair. They were 
relieved by the Seventh, in September, and joined the rest of 
the regiment at Beaufort, in season to take part in the battle of 
Pocotaligo, losing three killed and twenty-five wounded. The 
regiment wintered at Beaufort. In the spring of 1863, the 
Fourth took part in the unsuccessful attack on Charleston, and 
in the siege of Fort Wagner, which lasted through the summer. 
In January, 1864, the Fourth was ordered to Beaufort, and 
the next month to Jacksonville, Florida, thence back to Beaufort. 



620 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1861 

The re-enlisted veterans, to the number of three hundred and 
eighty-eight, received a furlough of thirty days to revisit New 
Hampshire under Colonel Bell ; and at the expiration of their 
leave in April they were joined to the army of the James. 
Then followed months of severe fighting to crush the Rebellion. 
At one time only one captain was left for duty in the Fourth, 
and the brigade was in command of a captain. In the attack on 
Fort Gilman only forty men could be mustered for the fight. 
In the successful attack on Fort Fisher Colonel Bell fell mor- 
tally wounded while leading a brigade ; but the fortress, defended 
by a superior force of the enemy, was captured. Then came the 
occupation of Wilmington. The I'^ourth was mustered out and 
arrived home August 27, 1865. 

To the Fourth regiment belonged Colonel William Badger, 
Quartermaster William K. Norton, Lieutenant Henry A. Mann, 
and Captain Frederick A. Kendall. 

Colonel Thomas J. Whipple was born in Wentworth, January 30, 1S16; 
was educated at New Hampton and at Norwich University, read law, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1S40. He served in the Mexican war as adjutant 
of Colonel Franklin Pierce's regiment, and was taken prisoner at Vera Cruz. 
After resigning from the Fourth he was chosen colonel of the Twelfth. He 
was a member of the constitutional convention of 1S76, and has built up a 
large law practice. He is an able lawyer and a powerful advocate. 

General Louis Bell, son of Governor Samuel Bell, was born March S, 1837, 
graduated at Brown University in 1855, was admitted to the bar in 1857, and 
settled in Farmington. He was breveted brigadier-general, January 15, 1S65, 
the day he was mortally wounded. 

The Fifth regiment was mustered into service in October, 1861, 
and left Concord the last of the month for the seat of war, under 
command of Colonel Edward E. Cross, of Lancaster, Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Samuel G. Langley, of Manchester, and Major 
William W. Cook, of Derry. Dr. Luther M. Knight, of Franklin, 
was surgeon, and Rev. Elijah R. Wilkins, chaplain. In April, 
1862, the regiment took part in the siege of Yorktown and the 
advance on Williamsburg ; and early in June fought at Fair 
Oaks. In the last battle the Fifth lost one hundred and eighty- 
six killed and wounded. Colonel Cross and Major Cook among 
the latter. Then followed the Seven Days' Battle in the retreat 



l86l] WAR OF THE REBELLION. 62 1 

to Harrison's Landing', in which the Fifth lost over one hundred 
officers and men. By the middle of August the regiment num- 
bered only three hundred and fifty fit for duty. At Antietara, 
■of the three hundred and nineteen officers and men who entered 
the fight, one hundred and eight were killed and wounded. 
On that day it won the title of the " Fighting Fifth." During 
its first year of service the Fifth lost three hundred and thirty- 
five in killed and wounded, besides si.'ity-nine who died of 
tlisease. In December, 1862, the Fifth was in Hancock's 
tlivision which charged the enemy at Marye's Heights, opposite 
Fredericksburg, where Major Sturtevant was mortally wounded. 
The regiment lost in the charge one hundred and eighty-si.x 
•officers and men, — victims of a blunder. 

In May, 1863, the Fifth took part in the battle of Chancellors- 
ville, losing forty ofificers and men ; and in July was engaged 
in the battle of Gettysburg, where Colonel Cro.ss, leading a 
brigade, was mortally wounded. In the three days' battle the 
Fifth lost four officers and eighty-two men killed and wounded, 
out of one hundred and si.xty-five men who went into the 
fight. Near the last of July, 1S63, the regiment returned to 
Concord to recruit its shattered ranks. During a stay of nearly 
three months the Fifth was recr-uited to the minimum strength; 
and Charles E. Hapgood, of Amherst, was commissioned colo- 
nel, Richard E. Cross, of Lancaster, lieutenant-colonel, and 
James E. Larkin, of Concord, major. Early in November the 
regiment started for the front, and was brigaded with the Sec- 
ond and the Twelfth at Point Lookout, under command of Gen- 
eral Marston. In May, 1864, the Fifth joined the army of the 
Potomac in its grand campaign from the Rapidan to the James 
under Grant, and fought at the battle of Cold Harbor, losing 
two hundred and two ofificers and men killed and wounded. In 
the attack on Petersburg, June 16, the Fifth lost thirty 
ofificers and men killed and wounded, Colonel Hapgood among 
the latter. The command of the regiment devolved on Major 
Larkin. June 17 the regiment lost twenty-nine killed and 
wounded ; June 18, seven men. The regiment was in action at 
Deep Run. At Reams Station the Fifth lost thirty-three of its 



622 mSTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1861 

number. For months during the summer and fall of 1864 the 
regiment lay in the trenches before Petersburg and took part 
in the closing struggle of the Rebellion. The original Fifth 
was mustered out of service October 12, 1864; the re-enlisted 
veterans were under command of Major, and later Lieutenant- 
colonel, Welcome A. Crafts. The regiment marched in the grand 
review at Washington, and was mustered out of the service of 
the United States July 8, 1865. 

To the Fifth belonged Major Thomas L. Livermore, Colonel 
.of the Eighteenth ; Lieutenant George W. Ballock ; Ira. McL. 
Barton, Charles H. Long, and Isaac W. Hammond. 

The Fifth lost more in killed and wountlcd than any other 
regiment in the Union army. 

Colonel Edward E. Cross w.is born at Lancaster, April 22, 1S32, received a 
common-school education, and learned the printer's trade. He became a news- 
paper correspondent and made many journeys into the Indian country, lead- 
ing a life of adventure and peril. At the breaking out of the war he was in 
command of a military force in Mexico. He was a man of cool courage, 
fearless of danger. Colonel Charles E. Hapgood was born in Shrewsbury, 
Mass., Dec. 11, 1S30. In 1S5S he was in trade in Amherst. After the war 
he went into business in Boston. Major Edward E. Sturtevant was born in 
Keene, August 7, 1826, was a printer by trade, and settled at Concord, and 
was on the police force at the breaking out of the war. 

The Si.\th regiment was organized at Keene, and mustered 
into the service the last of November, 1861. Nelson Converse, 
of Marlborough, was ajspointed colonel, Simon G. Grififin, of 
Keene, lieutenant-colonel, and Charles Scott, of Peterborough, 
major. O. G. Dort was a captain ; Alonzo Nute, of Farming- 
ton, was quartermaster; Thomas P. Cheney, of Holderness, a 
lieutenant. The regiment left the State about Christmas time, 
and joined General Burnside's expedition into North Carolina. 
It was engaged in the battle of Camden, in April, 1862, led by 
Colonel Griffin; Colonel Converse having resigned in March, antl 
Capt. O. G. Dort having been appointed major to fill vacancy 
caused by promotion. In August the Si.xth joined the army of 
General Pope at Culpeper Court House, and took part in the 
disastrous campaign which followed. At the second battle of 
Bull Run, August 29, 1862, the regiment lost thirty-two killed. 



lS6l] WAR OF THE REBELLION. 62 J 

one hundred and ten wounded, and sixty-eight missing, or nearly 
one half the number engaged. Nearly all the missing were 
killed or wounded, and the woundeil were all captured. Of 
twenty oflficers, five were killed, si.v wounded, and two captured. 
The shattered Si.xth took part in the battle of Chantilly and in 
the battle of Antietam. In December the Sixth was in the 
fight at Fredericksburg. In the spring of 1863, the Sixth was 
transferred to Kentucky, where in May Colonel Grififin was given 
command of the brigade which included the Sixth and Ninth, 
and was sent with his brigade to heljj General Grant invest 
Vicksburg. At the battle of Jackson Colonel Grififin com- 
manded the Ninth corps. In January, 1864, the re-enlisted vet- 
erans enjoyed a furlough of thirty days in New Hampshire. In 
March the Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh were brigaded, and 
stationed at Annapolis, under command of Colonel Griffin, and in 
April joined the army of the Potomac under General Grant at 
the Rapidan. Immediately the brigade was brought into action, 
and nobly acquitted itself in the battle of the Wilderness. At 
Spottsylvania the Sixth lost sixty-eight killed and wounded, and 
Colonel Griffin won his star. Lieutenant-colonel Henry H. 
Pearson lost his life May 26, 1S64; and Phin P. Bixby was pro- 
moted to the command. The history of the .Sixth, and of Gen- 
eral Griffin's brigade, from this time on to the close of the war is 
inseparably connected with 'that of the army of the Potomac. 
They took part in the battles of North Anna River, Tolopotomy 
Creek, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Spring 
Church, Hatcher's Run, and the final assault on Petersburg. The 
regiment was mustered out July 17, 1S65. 

Gener.il Simon G. Griffin was born in Nelson, August 9, iS:!4. He received 
a thorough .icademical education, engaged in teacliing, represented Nelson int 
the legislature two years, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Merri- 
mack county in the fall of 1S60. He commanded company B of the Second 
at the battle of Bull Run. He was commissioned colonel of the Sixth April 
22, 1S62. He was commissioned brigadier-general May 12, 1S64, for judgment 
displa^'ed a: the battle of Spottsylvania. He was breveted m.njor-general for 
" gallant conduct " at the attack on Petersburg, April 2, 1S65, while leading a 
division. He was mustered out of the service in September, 1S65, and settled 
in Keene. He represented Keene in the legislature in 1S66, 1S67, and 1S6S, 
being chosen speaker his last two terms. He was nominated for Congress ia 
1S71, and again in 1S73, but was defeated. 



624 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 86 £ 

Lieutenant-colonel Henrv II Pearson was a student at Phillips Exeter 
Academy at the breaking out of the war. He was born in Illinois, February 
26, 1840. Fired with military and patriotic ardor he volunteered among the 
first, and afterwards returned to Exeter and raised a company, and joined the 
Sixth. He was a young man ot commanding figure and manner, kind and 
attentive to the wants of his men, while his coolness and bravery gained for 
him the love and respect of all. 

The Seventh regiment was organized at Manchester in De- 
cember, 1861. It was raised through the efforts of Adjutant- 
general Joseph C. Abbott, of Concord, who was appointed Heu- 
tenant-colonel. The command of the regiment was given to 
Colonel H. S. Putnam, a native of Cornish, born in 1835, and a 
graduate of West Point in 1857. Daniel Smith, of Dover, was 
commissioned major, and Andrew H. Young, quartermaster. 
The Seventh left the State about the middle of January, 1862, 
and for the rest of the winter was at Dry Tortugas. In June it 
was transferred to Port Royal, and some time later to St. Augus- 
tine. In June, 1863, the regiment took part in the siege of 
Charleston, and in the assault on Fort Wagner. There they 
lost, in a brief charge, two hundred and eighteen killed, 
wounded, and missing ; Colonel Putnam among the former. 
At the battle of Olustee, Florida, in February, 1864, the regi- 
ment lost two hundred and nine killed, wounded, and miss- 
ing. In April the Seventh joined the army of the James, and 
for the next year participated in the* siege of Petersburg and the 
great battles in that neighborhood, including the capture of Fort 
Fisher. The regiment was mustered out in June, 1865. At 
that time there were less than one hundred men of the original 
force. 

Colonel Abbott was born in Concord, July 15, 1S25. After the war he 
was U. S. senator from North Carolina. Lieutenant Samuel H. Henderson, 
of Dover, killed at Deep Run, August 16, 1S64, was born in December, 
1833. Grovenor A. Curtice, of Hopkinton, was captain of company D of 
the Seventh. 

The Eighth regiment was organized at Manchester, and was 
mustered into the service December 23, 1861, with Hawkes 
Fearing as colonel, O W. Lull, of Milford, lieutenant-colonel, 
Morrill B. Smith, of Concord, major, and Dr. S. G. Dearborn, 
of Milford, surgeon. In March, 1862, the Eighth joined the 



lS62] WAR OF THE REBELLION. 625 

army of the Gulf, under General B. F. Butler. In May and 
June, 1863, the Eighth was in the engagement at Port Hudson. 
In their first assault, out of three hundred engaged, one hundred 
and twenty-four were killed or wounded. Lieutenant-colonel Lull 
among the former. In April and May, 1864, the Eighth, 
mounted, took part in the Red River campaign. In December, 
the remnant of the regiment who had not re-enlisted passed up 
the Mississippi river, which they had helped to open, on their 
way home. 

The re-enlisted veterans, to the number of three hundred 
and five, remained, the battalion under command of Captain 
James H. Landers, of Concord, and did duty in the neighbor- 
hood of Natchez until the collapse of the Rebellion. Among 
their number was Captain Dana W. King, of Nashua. 
Colonel Fearing was a merchant of Manchester. 
Lieutenant-colonel Lull, a native of Weare, was born January 
14, 1826, studied law, and settled in Milford. 

The Ninth regiment was organized at Concord during the 
summer of 1862, and left the State near the end of August, 
under command of Colonel E. O. Fellows, to join the army of 
the Potomac. In twenty days they took part in the battles of 
South Mountain and Antietam, losing ten killed and over one 
hundred wounded, Lieutenant-colonel Herbert B. Titus among 
the latter. In December the Ninth was engaged in the disas- 
trous battle of Fredericksburg, led by Colonel Titus and Lieu- 
tenant-colonel John W. Babbitt. In 1863 they were in Ken- 
tucky, and later at Vicksburg, and then in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee. In May, 1864, the regiment again joined the army of 
the Potomac, fought at Spottsylvania, in the trenches before 
Petersburg, and in the great military movement which crushed 
General Lee and his army. It joined in the grand review at 
Washington, and was mustered out in June, 1865. 

Of the Ninth regiment were Majors George W. Everett and 

George H. Chandler, Adjutants William N. Cook and William 

I. Brown, Quartermaster William Pitt Moses, and Captain L. 

H. Pillsbury and Lieutenant W. S. Pillsbury, of Londonderry. 

The Tenth rejriment was organized at Manchester in the 



636 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1S62 

summer of 1862. It was composed mostly of men of Irish 
birth or descent, and left for the front under command of Colonel 
Michael T. Donohoe, Lieutenant-colonel John Coughlin, and 
Major Jesse F. Angell. It was joined to the army of the Poto- 
mac. Wm. H. D. Cochran was a first lieutenant. Colonel 
Donohoe, who was breveted brigadier-general for gallant conduct 
in the field, was born in Lowell, Mass., November 22, 1838, and 
was educated at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, 
Mass. For the last two years of the war he was in command of 
a brigade. The Tenth took part in the battle of Fredericks- 
burg, in December, 1862. During 1863 the regiment was serving 
in the neighborhood of Norfolk. In 1864 it joined the army of 
the Potomac, and took part in the battle of Cold Harbor. Most 
of its service was with the army of the James. The Tenth 
showed splendid qualities at the assault on Fort Harrison. The 
regiment rendered efficient service to the Union cause, and dis- 
played coolness and bravery on many a battle-field. It was 
mustered out in June, 1865. 

The Eleventh regiment was organized at Concord in the sum- 
mer of 1862, and was mustered into service early in September, 
under command of Colonel Walter Harriman. Major Moses A. 
Collins, Adjutant Charles R. Morrison, and Quartermaster 
James F. Briggs went out with the regiment. It joined the 
army of the Potomac in time to take part in the battle of 
Fredericksburg. In 1863 it served in Kentucky, and formed 
part of the force investing Vicksburg, Mississippi. In the fall 
the regiment formed a part of the garrison which defended 
Kno.xville. In 1S64 the Eleventh was in the battle of the 
Wilderness, when Colonel Harriman was captured, and Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Moses N. Collins was killed ; at Spottsylvania ; at 
Cold Harbor ; in the trenches before Petersburg ; at Hatcher's 
Run ; and in the final struggle before Richmond and Peters- 
burg. Colonel Harriman, afterwards governor of New Hamp- 
shire, was breveted brigadier-general. Leander W. Cogswell 
was appointed lieutenant-colonel, and Evarts W. Farr, major. 
The Eleventh was discharged in June, 1865. 

The Twelfth regiment was raised mainly from Belknap and 



1862] WAR OF THE REBELLION-. 62/ 

Carroll counties in August, 1862, and was entrusted to the 
command of Colonel Joseph H. Potter, a native of Concord and 
a graduate of West Point, class of 1843. John F. Marsh was 
lieutenant-colonel and George D. Savage, major. The regiment 
left for the front the last of September, and was in the battle of 
Fredericksburg, as part of the reserve. In May, 1863, it was 
engaged in the battle of Chancellorsville, and in July was brigaded 
with the Second at Point Lookout. In 1864 it joined the army 
of the James and fought at Drury's Bluff and Cold Harbor, and 
formed a part of the line investing Richmond. The Twelfth 
was mustered out in July, 1865. Colonel Potter was appointed 
brigadier-general, and Thomas E. Barker, colonel. J. Ware 
Butterfield went out as captain ; Ira C. Evans as musician. 

The Thirteenth regiment was organized in Concord, in the 
fall of 1862, and mustered into service near the end of Septem- 
ber. Aaron F. Stevens was appointed colonel, George Bowers, 
a veteran of the Mexican war, lieutenant-colonel, and Jacob 
Storer, major. It went to the front early in October, and took 
part in the battle of Fredericksburg. In 1863 the regiment 
served in the neighborhood of Norfolk. In 1864 the Thirteenth 
was in the attack on the Walthal Railroad, at the battles of 
Swift Creek, Kingsland Creek, Drury's Bluff, and Cold Har- 
bor, in the trenches before Petersburg, and in many of the 
skirmishes and battles of the last year of the war, with the army 
of the James. It was mustered out of the service in June, 1865. 
Colonel Stevens was appointed brigadier-general by brevet. In 
the regiment was Person C. Cheney, afterwards governor of New 
Hampshire, Mortier L. Morrison, George B. Twitchell, John 
Sullivan, Jr., Charles B. Gafney, Henry Churchill, Rufus P. 
Staniels, George Farr, and Oliver M. Sawyer. 

The Fourteenth was the last of the three years' regiments 
raised in New Hampshire. It was organized at Concord in the 
fall of 1862. Mustered into service September 24, and left the 
State for Washington the latter part of October, and for over a 
year did duty in guarding the city of Washington. In February, 
1864, the regiment was sent to the department of the Gulf, and 
served in the neighborhood of New Orleans until midsummer. 



628 IIISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1862 

when it joined General Sheridan and the army of West Virginia, 
and fought with him in the valley of the Shenandoah, at Win- 
chester and elsewhere. In January, 1865, the Fourteenth were 
ordered to Savannah, Georgia. The regiment was discharged 
the last of July, 1865. Among the officers of the Fourteenth 
were Colonels Robert Wilson, Alexander Gardiner, Carroll D. 
Wright, Theodore A. Ripley, and Tileston A. Barker ; Dr. Wil- 
liam H. Thayer, John W. Sturtevant, Solon A. Carter, Samuel 
A. Duncan, and Stark Fellows. 

The Fifteenth regiment, of nine months' men, was organized 
in Concord in the fall of 1862, and arrived at New Orleans and 
joined the army late in December. In the summer of 1863 the 
regiment took part in the assault on Port Hudson and the siege 
which led to the capture of that stronghold. The regiment was 
mustered out in August. John W. Kingman, of Durham, was 
colonel. Among the officers were Lieutenant-colonel Henry 
W. Blair, and Thomas Cogswell, jr. 

The Sixteenth regiment, of nine months' men, was mustered 
into the service about the middle of October, 1862, and started 
for the front in December, with James Pike, colonel, Henry W. 
Fuller, lieutenant-colonel, and Samuel Davis, Jr., major. Their 
destination was the department of the Gulf, where on their ar- 
rival they joined the "Banks expedition," and were present at 
the fall of Port Hudson. On their return North their route was 
up the Mississippi river. 

The Seventeenth regiment, of three months' men, was raised 
in the Third Congressional District, and Henry O. Kent, of 
Lancaster, was appointed colonel. Seven hundred and ninety- 
one men were enlisted ; and the regiment assembled in Concord 
in November, 1862. It received a furlough from December 
until April, 1863, when upon reassembling it was decided by the 
authorities to consolidate the Seventeenth with the veteran 
Second. 

Colonel Henry O. Kent, son of Richard Peabody and Emily 
Mann (Oakes) Kent, was born in Lancaster, February 7, 1834, 
graduated at Norwich Military University in 1854, read law, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1858. Soon after he became editor 





C&ha^ 



Co, f%2..i^ 



1S63] WAR OF THE KEliELLION. 629 

of tlie Coos Republican. His editorials were strong, vigorous, 
and earnest ; and his paper became a power in the councils of 
his party. After the war, in 1870, he sold his interest in the 
paper and afterwards devoted himself to banking. In 1857 he 
was clerk of the House of Representatives, and a member in 
1862, 1868, and 1869. He was a supporter of Horace Greeley 
for the presidency, in 1872, and thereafterwards was a member 
of the Democratic party. He was accorded the Congressional 
nomination in the Third District in 1875, 1877, and 187S. He 
succeeded Colonel Daniel Hall in the naval office at Boston 
upon the election of President Cleveland. 

Joseph A. Gilmore received the Republican nomination for 
governor in 1863, and was elected ; and was re-elected in 1864. 
He was a man of wonderful activity and energy, pushing to 
completion any work left to his care. His messages were full of 
patriotic expressions and suggestions. He promptly furnished all 
troops demanded by the War Department, and was untiring in 
his attention to the soldiers in the field and in the hospitals.' 

J. A. Gilmore was born in Weston, Vermont, in iSii, settled in Concord 
in early manhood, was engaged in heavy mercantile business, and was super- 
intendent of the Concord Railroad. He was a member of the State Senate 
in 1S5S and 1S59. He died April 17, 1S67. 

The Eighteenth regiment was raised in the summer of 1864, 
and went to the front under command of Colonel Thomas L. Liv- 
ermore. Joseph M. Clough was lieutenant-colonel, and Wil- 
liam I. Brown, major. The regiment did good service in the 
closing campaign of the war, and was mustered out in June and 
July, 1865. 

The First regiment of New Hampshire Cavalry was raised in 
the spring of 1864, and did good service for the Union cause. 

The State also sent to the front the First Light Battery, a 
regiment of Heavy Artillery and several companies of Sharp- 
shooters, — the latter were in thirty battles, — and several com- 
panies to the First New England Cavalry. 

During the Rebellion the State sent out 31,426 volunteers: 
In the First, 765 ; Second, 2645; Third, 2013; Fourth, 1749; 

> O. F, R. Waite's New Hampshire in the Rebellion. 



630 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1865 

Fifth, 2547; Sixth, 2531 ; Seventh, 17 19; Eighth, 15S6; Ninth, 
1820; Tenth, 1293; Eleventh, 1622; Twelfth, 1417; Thirteenth, 
1227; Fourteenth, 1346; Fifteenth, 876; Sixteenth, 874; Sev. 
enteenth, 203 ; Eighteenth, 951; New England Cavalry, 419; 
Light Battery, 163 ; Sharpshooters, 345 ; First Cavalry, 1491 ; 
Heavy Artillery, 1824. Of these, 1538 were killed or died of 
wounds ; 2541 died of disease ; and 285 were missing in action. 
1613 re-enli.sted. 

The State was honorably represented in the navy during the 
struggle to suppress the Rebellion. Among those who espe- 
cially distinguished themselves were Captain George E. Belknap 
and Captain George Hamilton Perkins.^ The latter, a son of 
Hon. Hamilton E. Perkins, of Concord, commanded an ironclad 
monitor in the attack on the defences of Mobile Bay, and op- 
erated his vessel from a position on top of the turret. 

During the Rebellion the country and the Union cause was 
served by men of New Hampshire birth who had removed to 
other States. Among these were Benjamin F. Butler, John A. 
Dix, William Pitt Fessenden, Salmon P. Chase, Henry Wilson, 
Horace Greeley, and Edward Henry Durell, beside a multitude 
of others in less conspicuous positions. 

Hon. E. H. Durell, a Union man, and an eminent lawyer of 
New Orleans, was appointed by President Lincoln, in 1863, 
judge of the United States District Court for the eastern district 
of Louisiana. During the occupation of that city by the Union 
army, he was a friend to all Northern soldiers, especially those 
from his native State. He resigned his office late in the year 
1874. Judge Durell was offered the Austrian mission, and the 
office of governor of Louisiana, both of which he declined ; and 
was the leading candidate of Southern Republicans for the 
vice-presidency in 1886. He died in Schoharie, N. Y., March 
29, 1887. 

* George H. Perkins was bom October 20, 1836, was appointed cadet midshipman in 1S51, and was 
noted through the war for his coolness and bravery. 




^ /V<t^U/t:^^i^ 




% 




CHAPTER XX. 

IRISH LV NEW HAMPSHIRE} 

Early Irish Settlers — Soldiers in Indian Wars — At Louisburg — 
CoNcyjEST OF Canada — Revolution — Emigration of 1S40-60 — Ship 
Fever — Terrors of the Plague — Hawthorne's Description — 
Mob IN Manchester — Rebellion — Growth of Catholic Church — 
Bishop Bradley. 

A S the ore can be traced by the outcroppings on the ledges in 
■^^ the mountains of Colorado and Nevada, so can the nationality 
of those sprung from the Emerald Isle be determined from the 
old Milesian or Scottish names which appear in the Provincial 
records, almost from the first entry in 1623 down to the out- 
break of the Revolutionary war in 1775. The terrible condition 
of affairs in Ireland between 1640 and the final establishment 
of William of Orange as the ruler of the British Empire in 
1688, drove thousands away from Ireland. Many were sold, 
young men and women, during the reign of Cromwell, in the 
West India Islands and New England, thus losing their religion 
and nationality. 

On the defeat of James the Second the Irish army was dis- 
banded, the greater part leaving their country for ever to take 
service in the Continental countries ; the strength of their arms 
and the intensity of their hatred towards England being felt on 
scores of bloody battlefields for more than a hundred years 
afterwards. It is not at all unreasonable to believe that many 
were induced to go to America from a love of adventure, as 
their names appear on the military rolls of the colony at an 
early date, doing good work for the settlers, fighting the French 

* From the pen of Hon. John C. Linehan. 



6^2 nisroKV of xi:\v Hampshire. [1865 

in the north and the Indians around tliem. Not only in New 
Hampshire but in nearly all of the thirteen colonies, and most 
especially in Pennsylvania, were their services in demand, it 
being a matter of record that William Penn applied for a con- 
tingent for the defence of his infant colony. Darby Field, an 
" Irish soldier for discovery," is undoubtedly entitled to the 
credit of being the first of his race to step foot on the old Granite 
State. He was sent here by Captain John Mason, in 1631, and 
according to all writers on New Hampshire was the first Euro- 
pean to ascend the White Mountains, in 1635. From 1641 to 
1660 there will be found in the Provincial records such names 
as Duggan, Dermott, Gibbons, Vaughan, Neal, Patrick, Buckley, 
Kane, Kelly, Brian, Healey, Connor, Murphy, Malone, Corbett, 
McCIary, McMullen, Pendergast, Keilly, McGowan, McGinnis, 
and Sullivan. On following up the records, it will be found 
that many of the names have in the lapse of time been changed, 
but their identity can easily be established. In a company 
commanded by Captain John Gilman, in 1710-12, appear the 
names of Connor, Leary, Driscol, McGowan, Carthy, and 
Patrick Greing. What is called the "Scotch-Irish" settlement 
of Londonderry took place in 1719, but for seventy years before 
that date those distinctive Irish names a're found here and there 
in the Provincial records. 

In the regiment commanded by Colonel Moore at the capture 
of Louisburg, Cape Breton, in 1745, the following men served. 
The names are Celtic, unmistakably, some peculiar to Ireland 
and Scotland, but the majority to Ireland : — 

Richard Fitzgerald, Roger McMahon, John Welch, Thomas 
I.eary, Daniel Kelly, Daniel Welch, Patrick Gault, Andrew 
Logan, James McNeil, John Logan, Thomas Haley, John Foy, 
John McNeil, James McLaughlan, James Mc Lenceh an, Grace, 
Foy, Kenny, Malone, Connor, Murphy, Flood, Griffin, McGowan, 
IVIoore, Kelly, Farley, Moloney, and McCarthy. Eleven years 
afterward, in the war which ended in the capture of Canada — 
" the Old French War" — are enrolled the names of Moore, 
McDuffy, O'Neal, McClary, Mitchel, Logan, Carthy, Con- 
nor, Flood, McCormack, Malone, Strafon, Kelly, IMcMahon, 



1865] IKIsn IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 633 

Hart, Sweeny, Murph_v, Ryan, Moloney, McMahon, Cunning- 
ham, Mooney, McGovvan, Sullivan, Madden, Welch, Molloy, 
McCarthy, McLaughlan, Connor, McCarrill, Tobin, Clark, Don- 
nell, McKeon, Driscol, Rowan, McClennen, Connolly, Moylan, 
Haley, Kennedy, Laney, McConnihie, Broderick, Rankin, 
Grady, Meroney, McMillan, Ennis, McGee, Moran, Murphy, 
and Powers. Many of these men bear the distinctive Irish 
given names of Patrick, Michael, Dennis, Cornelius, and Darby, 
and all are in appearance " Irish as the hills." 

Bryan McSweeny, a veteran of the French war, was one of 
the selectmen of Holderness, in 1773, ami Michael Dwyer, in 
1786; Obadiah Mooney in Canterbury, in 1786, and Jacob 
J-'lynn in Duxbury, the same year. In Peterborough, 1786, were 
the families of McNee, Kenny, and McDonnell ; in Concord, 
McMillan, Roche, Guinlon, and Shute ; in Bedford, Callahan, 
FJynn, Murphy, Manahan, O'Neil and McCleary ; in Aliens- 
town, in 1787, the family of Duggan ; in Rochester, Killey, 
Lynch, and Patrick Murrey. Hon. Robert Means was born in 
Ireland and came to Amherst in 1764. 

Antrim's first settler was Philip Roiley, 1774 ; and two of the 
most eminent citizens in its early days were Maurice Lynch aiul 
Tobias Butler, both natives of Ireland. Stephen and Dennis 
Pendergast were among the Barnstead settlers, in 1788 ; and in 
Durham, 1749, the Sullivan family appear often. John, James, 
Humprey, Valentine, libenezer, and their descendants, have been 
among the first in New England. With these were the names of 
Driscol, I<"urness,"Cogan, Pendergast, Ryan, and Welch. Fitz- 
geralds appear in the Boscawen town records in 1757, and 
Callahan in 1783. Carrigain in Concord, and Kelly and Mc- 
Gowan in Brentwood, kept up the connection ; and Dorchester 
furnishes a Darby Kelly and McClanathan ; Cocheco, a Connor, 
Kelly, and Hern ; Exeter, Roger Kelly and Cornelius Lary. 
Dublin was first settled by Thomas Morse, John Alexander, 
Henry Strongman, and William Scott, natives of Ireland. 
Epsom and the McCIarys are inseparable in colonial and State 
records. In Francestown, 1772, Thomas, John, William, and 
Thomas Quigley, jr., represented one of the best old Irish 



634 insTORV of new iiami>shire. [1865 

families ; and in Gilmanton were Magoon, Malone, Mooney, 
Casey, and Connor. In Goffstown one of the great Irish clans 
had a representative in John O'Neil, in 1783, and Richard 
Coughlan represented another in Chesterfield, in 1777. In 
Hoklerness was quite a collection of Celts in 1789 — Hogan, 
Mooney, Dwyer, Connor and McSweeny ; in Hopkinton, Connor 
and McLaughlan ; in Nottingham, Thomas Barry ; and in 
Londonderry, among the names of others, are those of Donahoe, 
O'Neil, Donavan, Kelly, Callahan, Murphy, McLaughlan, and 
Haley ; in Merrimack, McConihie, McCormick, and Griffin ; 
in Dunstable, 1762, Donally and Lonergan ; in New Boston, 1775, 
McLaughlan, Rowan, Donavan, Quigley, Butler, and McGinnis ; 
in New Castle, Malone, Neal, and Shannon ; m Newmarket, ' 
Fitzgerald, Malone, and Driscol. There is no doubt but 
that Irish blood was well mixed with that of the English set- 
tlers in New Hampshire previous to the Revolution; and that 
contest proved there was no deterioration from the intermixture; 
for the names of Sullivan and Stark will go down to posterity 
beside those of Poor and Cilley, as gallant defenders of the 
liberties of the people of the States. One illustration will prove 
the presence of those of Irish blood here before the Revolution. 
The expedition against the Six Nations, in 1777, was under the 
command of Major-general John Sullivan, theson of Irish parents. 
The division was made up of three brigades ; and two of the bri- 
gade commanders. Generals William Maxwell and Edward Hand, 
were natives of Ireland ; and at least two of the regimental com- 
manders, Colonel William Butler and Colonel Thomas Proctor, were 
from the same country. Of the part taken by the Irish in New 
Hampshire in the struggle for independence, her rolls of the 
killed and wounded bear witness, from Bunker Hill to Yorktown. 
The Mac's and the O's were generally in the thickest of the 
fray, and their record in the new world for bravery and deter- 
mination equalled their best efforts in Europe. 

The outbreak of the French Revolution, the long wars that 
followed, ending only at Waterloo, and the brief period of pros- 
perity that resulted from that contest to the people of Ireland, 
in an increased demand for her agiicultural products at an 



1865] IRISH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 635, 

enhanced value, checked for the time being the tide of emigra- 
tion from that country. 

For the first time for centuries the people there had a compara- 
tive peace. No outbreak had taken place since the rebellion of 
1 798. The population of the country had rapidly increased, so that 
in 1840 it was over eight millions of souls. Up to this year very 
few of the Irish people had sailed for America since the year 
1800; scarcely any to New England. The result was that when 
the dreadful famine broke out between 1840 and 1850, and 
the exodus to America began, the Irish people were strangers 
to those of their kindred in New Hampshire whose ancestors had 
left Ireland more than a century before. And to add to the feel- 
ing of estrangement, the difference in religion made itself felt, as 
the great bulk of the new emigrants were Catholics. 

The outlook then for the poor Irish Catholic, whom poverty 
or misfortune had driven to the United States during the period 
between 1S35 and 1S55, was anything but pleasing, especially 
in New England ; while the fearful stories told of the dreadful 
scenes on shipboard, the deaths from the famine fever, and the 
consequent fear of infection, made their presence both undesir- 
able and unwelcome. The native American riots in Philadelphia 
and New York ; the burning of the convent in Charlestown, 
Mass. ; the blood-curdling stories circulated by Maria Monk ; 
and the brutal and false harangues of the apostate priests — 
Hogan, Chiniquy, and Gavazzi, — aided by the insensate ravings 
of the fanatic madman, the " Angel Gabriel," influenced public 
sentiment, which had already been deeply prejudiced against 
anything Catholic by early teachings, strengthened by the liter- 
ature of the day. What the Irish Catholics suffered in those sad 
days the present generation can form no conception of. Starv- 
ing and dying at home, those, who were fortunate enough to 
have the means, left their native land in despair; and, turning 
their faces to the west, resolved to seek their fortunes in America, 
where they could earn an honest livelihood, and give their fami- 
lies a decent maintenance. The emigration first inclined towards 
Canada, from whence it overflowed into the States. It was but 
natural that the terrible disease which they brought across the 



636 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['865 

ocean with thcni inspired terror and deepened the prejudice, 
already strong enough, against them, although their sufferings 
:uid misery appealed strongly to the best sympathies of the 
human heart. The first of the fever-smitten ships to enter the 
St. Lawrence was the "Urania" from Cork, with several hun- 
dred emigrants, a large proportion of them sick and dying from 
the awful plague, on May 8, 1847; and before the first week of 
June following eighty-four ships of various tonnage were quar- 
antined at Grosse Island, Quebec, not one of which was free from 
the taint of malignant typhus, the offspring of famine and of 
the foul ship-hold. This fleet of vessels literally reeked with 
pestilence. All sailing vessels, the merciful speed of the well- 
appointed steamer being unknown to the emigrants of those 
days, — a tolerably quick passage lasted from six to eight weeks, 
while passages of ten or twelve weeks, and even a longer time, 
were not considered at all extraordinary at a period when craft 
of every kind the most unsuited, as well as the least sea- 
worthy, were pressed into the service of human deportation. 
Who can imagine the horrors of even the shortest passage in 
an emigrant ship crowded beyond its utmost capacity of stowage 
with unhap]:>y beings of all ages, with fever raging in their 
midst. Under the most favorable circumstances it is impossible 
to maintain perfect purity of atmosphere between decks, even 
when ports are open and every device is adopted to secure the 
greatest amount of ventilation. But a crowded emigrant ship 
of forty years since, with fever aboard! — the crew sullen or brutal 
from very desperation, or paralysed from terror of the plague ; 
the miserable passengers unable to help themselves, or afford 
the least relief to each other ; one-fourth or one-third or one- 
half of the entire number in different stages of the disease ; 
many dying, some dead ; the fatal poison intensified by the in- 
describable foulness of the air breathed and rebreathed by the 
gasping sufferers ; the wails of children, the ravings of the 
delirious, the cries and groans of those in mortal agony ! Of 
the eighty-four vessels anchored at Grosse Isle, in the summer 
of 1847, there was not a single one to which this description 
might not rightly apply. Sheds were built for the unfortunate 



1865] IRISH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 637 

people, sick and dying ; and round tlieir walls lay groups of half- 
naked men, women, and children. Hundreds were literally 
flung on the beach, left amid the mud and stones to crawl on the 
dry land how they could. A priest who was an eye-witness of 
these distressing scenes said he had seen, one day, thirty-seven 
people lying on the beach, crawling on the mud and dying like 
fish out of water. Many of these, and many more besides, 
gasped out their last breath on that fatal shore, not able to drag 
themselves from the slime in which they lay. 

The mortality was frightful, and on that barren isle the dust 
of more than twelve thousand human beings, the victims of 
famine and plague, mingle with the soil of the " land of promise." 
Of this number full five thousand were simply described as un- 
known. Several priests — a few Irish, the majority French Can- 
adian — caught the infection, and out of twenty-five who were 
attacked seven paid with their lives the penalty of their devo- 
tion. Not a few were professors in colleges, but at the appeal 
of the archbishop they left their classes and their studies for 
the horrors and perils of the fever sheds. This deplorable havoc 
of human life left hundreds of orphans dependent on the charity 
of the public ; and nobly did the French Canadians respond to 
the unconscious appeal of this multitude of little ones. From 
the loss of the parents it was hard to determine the relationship 
between the unfortunate waifs. It was only by patiently observ- 
ing the little creatures when they found strength to play, and 
one infant ran to meet another, or caught its hand, or smiled at 
it, or kissed it, or showed pleasure in its society, that a clue was 
found, and many children of the same parents thus preserved ; 
but many more were separated forever, and both name and iden- 
tity lost. Thousands were in this way adopted and brought up 
by their kind protectors, but lost to their tongue and name. 
Sunday after Sunday, as the children got well enough, they were 
e.xposed at the churches after mass by the good priests, who made 
touching appeals to those who could provide them with homes ; 
and these appeals were not in vain, for all found shelter and pro- 
tection from the kind-hearted French farmers. But it was not 
alone at Quebec that such dreadful scenes were witnessed, as 



638 HISTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [J865 

Montreal, farther up the river, had their counterpart — over six 
thousand dying at the east banl< of the river, at a point not far 
from the terminus of the Victoria Bridge. As at Quebec, the 
priests and nuns were unwearied in their care of the afflicted, 
and thirteen out of thirty of the Grey nuns who were stricken 
gave their lives a sacrifice for the poor and lowly. With one 
exception, every priest in the city was down with the plague, and 
eight of them went to their graves. From Bishop Bourget down 
to the lowest secular priest all were equally exposed, and faced 
death to relieve the wants of those unable to help themselves. 
Among the first to fall a victim was Father Richards, a venerable 
man long past the time of active service. 

A convert from Methodism in early life, he had specially 
devoted himself to the Irish, who were then but a very small 
portion of the population. 

Not only did he mainly provide for the safety of the hundreds 
of orphan children, but, in spite of his great age, he labored in 
the fever sheds with a zeal which could not be excelled. " Father 
Richards wants fresh straw for the beds;" said a messenger to 
the mayor. " Certainly he shall have it. I wish it was gold, 
for his sake ;" said the mayor. A few days after the Protestant 
mayor and Catholic priest were martyrs of charity. 

Only a few days before stricken down. Father Richards 
preached on Sunday in St. Patrick's, and those who heard him 
on that occasion never forgot the venerable appearance and im- 
pressive words of that noble servant of God. Addressing a 
hushed and sorrow-stricken audience, as the tears rolled down 
his aged cheeks, he thus spoke of the faith and sufferings of the 
Irish : — 

" Oh my beloved brethren, grieve not, I beseech you, for the 
sufferings and death of so many of your race, perchance your 
kindred, who have fallen, and are still to fall, victims to this 
dreadful pestilence. Their patience, their faith, have edified all 
whose privilege it was to witness it. Their faith, their resigna- 
tion to the will of God under such unprecedented misery, is 
something so extraordinary that, to realize it, it requires to be 
seen. Oh my brethren, grieve not for them ; they did but pass 



IS65] IRISH IN XEW IIAMPSIHRE. 639 

from earth to the glory of heaven. True, they were cast in 
heaps into the earth, their place of sepulture marked by no name 
or epitaph ; but I tell you, my dearly beloved brethren, that from 
their ashes will spring up the faith along the St. Lawrence, for 
they died martyrs, as they lived confessors, to the faith." How 
prophetic the words of this good man were, the innumerable 
spires, surmounted by the cross, from the St. Lawrence to the 
Golden Gate, bear witness. There, as at Quebec, the orphan chil- 
(.Iren were provided with homes among the generous Canadians 
and their own loving kindred, the Irish of Montreal. For years 
no stone or epitaph marked the last resting-place of the bodies 
<if those who left their native land with such high hope of the 
future ; and it remained for the workmen who built the Victoria 
Bridge, most of them Englishmen, to place a memorial there of 
the sad event. In the centre of a railed-in spot of land at 
Point St. Charles, within a hundred yards of the bridge, there 
is a huge boulder taken from the bed of the river and placed 
on a platform of roughly hewn stone, and on it there is this 
inscription : — 

TO 

PRESERVE FROM DESECRATION 

THE REMAINS OF SIX THOUSAND EMIGRANTS, 

WHO DIED OF SHIP-FEVER 

A. D. 1S47-S, 

THIS STONE IS ERECTED BY THE 

WORKMEN OF MESSRS. PETO, BRASSY, AND EETTS, 

EMPLOYED IN THE 

COJJSTRUCTION OF THE VICTORIA BRIDGE, 

A. D. 1859. 

In the little church of the Bon Secour, familiar to all visitors 
to Montreal, can be seen among the many votive offerings a me- 
morial picture, representing, with all the painter's art, the horrors 
and the glories of the fever shed, — the dying Irish strong in 
their faith, the ministering sisters shedding peace on the pillow 
of suffering, the holy bishop affording the last consolations of 
religion to those to whom the world was as nothing ; but in its 
terrible significance the rude monument by the mighty river's 
side is far more impressive. 



640 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [^^^S 

But the suffering did not cease here, but continued still up the 
river, which must for that reason be ever memorable in the 
annals of the Irish Catholic exodus of 1S47-8. In the grounds 
of the General Hospital at Kingston rests all that was mortal of 
1900 emigrants who were in their sufferings tenderly attended 
to by Protestant as well as Catholic ; the Protestant mayor and 
aldermen working side by side with the good sisters and priests. 
The same scenes of suffering and death were to be witnessed in 
Toronto. Sheds were constructed, and hearses and dead-carts 
were in hourly requisition. The panic was universal, but the 
humane and high-spirited of all denominations did their duty 
manfully. The priests were ceaselessly at work, with the usual 
result — the sacrifice of several of their number. 

The greatest loss was that of the bishop, Dr. Power, a man 
venerable in years, a native of Ireland. He was implored not 
to go to the sheds and expose himself, but he replied, " My good 
priests are down in sickness, and the duty devolves on me." 
Rarely if ever has a larger funeral procession been seen in 
Toronto, and never has there been a more universal manifestation 
of sorrow than was witnessed on that mournful occasion. Every 
place of business in the city was closed, and Protestant vied 
with Catholic in doing honor to the memory of a holy and brave- 
hearted prelate. The city of St. John, New Brunswick, was 
the scene of a similar horror, and destruction of human life. 
Wherever an emigrant ship touched the shores of the British 
Provinces, or sailed into their rivers, there the same awful 
loss of life was recorded. A full description 6i those terrible 
days is given in Maguire's "Irish in America," from which the 
foregoing is condensed ; and how the appearance of the unfor- 
tunate people, who swarmed over the line into the States, struck 
the average American, has been told by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 
in his sketch of an " Inland Port :" — " Nothing struck me more in 
Burlington than the great number of Irish emigrants. They 
have filled the British Provinces to the brim, and still continue 
to ascend the St. Lawrence in infinite tribes, overflowing by 
every outlet into the States. At Burlington they swarm in huts 
and mean dwellings near the lake, lounge about the wharves, and 



J 865] IRISH IN NEW IIAMPSinKi;. 64 1 

elbow the native citizens oat of competition in tlieir own line. 
Every species of mere bodily iabor is the prerogative of these 
Irish. Such is their multitude in comparison with any possible 
demand for their services, that it is difficult to conceive how a 
third part of them should earn even a daily glass of whiskey, 
which is doubtless their first necessary of life — daily bread being 
only the second. Some were angling in the lake, but had caught 
only a few perches, which little fishes, without a miracle, would 
be nothing among so many. A miracle there certainly must have- 
been, and a daily one, for the sustenance of these wandering 
hordes. The men'e.\hibit alazy strengtliand careless merriment, 
as if they had fed well hitherto, and meant to feed better here- 
after. The women strode about, uncovered in the open air, with 
far plumper waists and brawnier limbs, as well as bolder faces, 
than our shy and slender females. And their progeny, which was 
innumerable, had the reddest and roundest cheeks of any child- 
ren in America." 

Not very kindly or sympathetic the remarks of the genial 
Hawthorne, but they are illustrative of the sentiments of the 
natives to the manor born in those days. The most extravagant 
stories were told and believed, and many people would go quite 
a distance to see the Irish. One woman, when a young girl, 
told the writer that, in company with a female friend, she 
walked six miles to the terminus of a railroad then being con- 
structed to see an Irishman, and was surprised as well as disap- 
pointed to find that they looked just like other men. Their first 
employment was on the railroads, in the canals, and in every 
place where their muscles could be used to the best advantage. 
Wherever hard labor was required in the ditch, the cut, the 
mines, laying track, building roads, shovelling, and spike driving, 
the services of the Irish were in demand. Very often the work 
was of the hardest description, the hours long, and the pay small ; 
but severe as the labor was, and long as the days were, and small 
as the wages might be, their wit or humor never left them ; and 
the loved ones in the " Old Art " were not neglected when pay- 
day came around. Of the sacrifices made by those faithful 
pioneers, God alone knows. Day and night their thoughts were 



642 HISTORV OF NEW ilA.Ml'SHlKE. ['865 

constantly with the dear ones at home ; and the aim of all was to 
work and save enough to bring them across that ocean which 
furnished graves for so many thousands. The experience of one 
was that of all. A native of Cork who came over in 1847 made 
his home in New Hampshire. He left behind him a wife and 
five children, the oldest but eleven years of age. For two long, 
long years he toiled unceasingly to save a sum sufficient to pay 
the expense of their passage, and in the meantime sent money 
regularly each quarter to provide them with the necessaries of 
life ; but the happy hour finally arrived, when, after a long and 
tempestuous voyage of over six weeks, the loved ones were 
once more united, to begin anew the battle of life on the west- 
ern shores of the Atlantic. He located in a village in the 
central part of the State, with none of his own nationality less 
than twelve miles on either side of him, — no church, the nearest 
at Lowell, seventy-five miles south. Here he resided four years, 
in a small community, all American and Protestant, but good 
kind neighbors, and friendly to the most extreme degree. 

But if the church and the priest were not present, the faith 
was kept alive. The prayers at mass were read regularly every 
Sunday, and the rosary recited during Lent and Advent. That 
good friend of the race, Tlie Boston Pilot — God bless it and 
Patrick Donahoe for the good it has done — was a weekly visitor ; 
and after a time the priest made an occasional call to baptize the 
children, and give their elders an opportunity to go to their duty. 

His life's work is about done, but he has seen grow up around 
him a community free from the intolerance and prejudice which 
met him forty years ago ; and this change was brought about by 
the honest industry which has made the good Irish Catholic 
respected wherever he cast his lot. The cities of New Hamp- 
shire have now magnificent Catholic churches, where in his day 
there were none ; and it is a very small village where there are 
any manufacturing interests that the little chapel surmounted 
with a cross, humble it may be, cannot now be found. One of his 
sons is a respected priest in the church of which he has all his 
life been a devoted adherent. Another is an honored citizen of 
the State, and a grand-daughter is one of the order of the Sisters 



1865] IRISH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 643 

of Mercy. So that in Iiis own life he but illustrates the expe- 
rience of others, not only in the State, but in the nation. 

The period between 1850 and the outbreak of the Rebellion 
was one of trouble and sorrow for the poor Irish emigrants. 
Riots broke out in Baltimore, New Orleans, and Louisville, 
Kentucky ; but it is to the credit of the American people that, 
in the main, the outbreaks were the result of the inflammable 
harangues of men like those mentioned. The loyalty even of the 
new comers was doubted ; and in the State of Massachusetts half 
a dozen military companies, composed of men of Irish birth or 
origin, were disbanded on the ground that they could not be 
trusted with arms in their hands. The excitement all over New 
England was intense. A priest in Maine was tarred and feath- 
ered, from the effect of which he never recovered. The Catholic 
church in Manchester was attacked by a mob on the 4th of July, 
1855, — the priest having to flee for his life. Thirty years later, 
at his death in 1885, a mark of respect was paid to his memory 
by the citizens of Manchester, that showed how completely pub- 
lic sentiment had changed. On the day of his funeral all of the 
mills were shut down, and all of the stores closed, during the hours 
of service ; and this was sincere ; for no man in the city was more 
respected by Catholic and Protestant alike than the saintly 
Father McDonald, whose whole life had been devoted unself- 
ishly to the service of God. But the time was rapidly approach- 
ing when the loyalty of the Irish Catholic was to be tried ; and 
nobly he stood the test, as the record of the State proves in the 
eventful period from 1861 to 1865. The first call for troops in 
April, 1 86 1, to repel the threatened invasion of Washington, and 
the second for 300,000 more to save the Union, found the Irish 
Catholics of New Hampshire as eager to enroll themselves in 
the ranks of the volunteers, as those who were born here of the 
old stock and of a different creed : and from the first conflict at 
Bull Run, in July, 1861, down to the end at Appomatox, in 1865, 
the men of New Hampshire shed their blood freely for the res- 
toration of the Union. Under the old flag they all loved, they 
forgot the differences of creed and nationality; and in the fires of 
many battlefields were welded ties of love and friendship that 



644 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIKE. ['865 

fanaticism can never sever. Not a muster roll of a company, 
battery, or regiment, not a soldier's monument, rearing its column 
to the sky, not a tablet or monument in public square or ceme- 
tery, inscribed in memory of New Hampshire's soldier dead> 
but will be found engraved with the names of many men or bovs 
of Irish birth or lineage, who gave all that was dear for the land 
they loved. 

In the Third regiment, company C, Captain M. T. Donahoe, 
were one hundred of the old race, and scattered through the 
other companies of the regiment were more than double that 
number. Company G, Captain M. O. Flynn, of the Fourth, 
were of the same stock. Two companies in the Eighth, under 
Captains Connelly and Healey, and nearly one full regiment, 
the Tenth, Colonel Michael T. Donahoe, proved the loyalty of 
the Irish to their adopted country. Not a regimental organiza- 
tion that left the State, from the First to the Eighteenth, the 
cavalry, light battery, and the United States navy and marine 
corps, but what had representatives of the race in their ranks ; 
and it can be said to their eternal honor that the great majority 
of them, or of those in the regiments named, volunteered be- 
fore the government offered bounties as an inducement to enlist. 
During their four years of service, either in camp, on the march, 
on the battlefield, on picket, in the hospital, or in the prison pen, 
the question of nationality or creed was never touched upon ; the 
blue jacket made Americans of them, and the question of loyalty 
was then and there forever settled. The children of the men who 
toiled on the railroad, and who served in building, hewing, cutting, 
digging, and trenching, thirty and forty years ago, are to-day 
many of them skilled mechanics, business and professional men, 
and making their mark in the State. The great body of them 
are honest, industrious, law-abiding people, willing to earn an 
honorable living, pay their just obligations, and live in peace 
with their neighbors. Their clergymen are beloved by their 
parishioners, and esteemed by their fellow citizens generally. 
The present generation, nor the one following, cannot forget 
the labors of Father McDonald in Manchester, Father O'Donnell 
in Nashua, Father Murphy in Dover, and Father Barry in Concord. 



1865] IRISH IN NEW HAJIPSHIKIC. 645 

The first two have gone to reap the reward of tlieir labors ; the 
last two still remain, loved and honored by all who know them ;' 
and in the State the church is presided over by a prelate^ whose 
genial presence and loving devotion to the spiritual interests of 
his flock are a benison to all with whom he comes in contact. 
Realizing, then, the full significance of the events of the past 
forty-eight years, the American in New Hampshire of Irish 
birth or origin can in a few years pass between the gates of the 
old and new centuries, conscious that he has fulfilled the duties, 
of the one, and stands ready to assume the responsibilities of 
the other. 

* Rev. Michael Lucey, of Exeter, died in 1S73, aged nearly 67 years; and Rev. Father Drummond, 
of Dover, died in 1883, aged 75 years: both full of years and honors. To them is much credit due 
for the growth of the Catholic church in New Hampshire. 

- Right Reverend Dennis M. Bradley, bishop of Manchester, was born in 
Castle Island, County Kerry, Ireland, February ^5, 1S46. His father died in 
1S53, and his mother, with six children, came to America the following year 
aud settled in Manchester. He graduated at the College of the Holy Cross, 
at Worcester, Mass., in 1S67 ; studied theology at St. Joseph's Provincial 
Theological Seininary, at Troy. N. Y. ; was ordained in June, 1S71 ; and for 
nine years was with Bishop Bacon and Bishop Healy, at Portland. In iSSa 
he was chosen pastor of St. Joseph's church, Manchester. June 11, 1SS4, he 
was consecrated first bishop of the new see of Manchester (New Hampshire 
having been created a diocese), being at the time the youngest bishop of the 
Roman Catholic Church in the United States. In iSSS Bishop Bradley had 
under his jurisdiction about eighty-five thousand Catholics under the spiritual 
rare of fifty-six priests, forty-four churches, aside from two building, thirtv- 
four parochial schools — seventeen for boys, and seventeen for girls, only four 
of each conducted by lay teachers — four academies for girls, four orphan 
asylums, one hospital, one home for aged women, and a Catholic high school 
at Manchester under the care of si.K " Christian Brothers." 

St. Joseph's Cathedral and the episcopal residence at Manchester cost over 
$125,000. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

SINCE THE REBELLION, 1 865-1 888. 

Frederick Smyth — Sylvester Marsh — Provincial Papers — Rev. Dr. 
BouTON — Walter Harriman — Plblic Instruction — Academies and 
High Schools— John B. Clark— J. C. Moore — People — Newspa- 
pers — Onslow Stearns — James A. Weston — Bishop Baker — E. 
A. Straw — Asa Fowler — J. E. Sargent — Charles H. Burns — 
P. C. Cheney — Phillips Exeter Academy — Constitutional Con- 
vention — B. F. Prescott — J. F. Briggs — White Mountains — 
Natt Head— Charles H. Bell — Frank Jones — Ossian Ray — S. 
W. Hale — C. H. Bartlett — J. H. Gallinger — Moody Currier — 
C. H. Sawyer — Jonathan Sawyer — Joseph Wentworth — Jonathan 
Kittredge — W. E. Chandler — Harry Bingham — Railroads — 
Summer Resorts — Manufacturing. 

TN the Republican convention of January, 1865, Frederick 
Smyth, of Manchester, received two-thirds of an informal 
ballot, which was then made unanimous by acclamation. 

'Frederick Smyth was born in Candia in iSig, and in early manhood was in 
Inisiness in Manchester. He soon became interested in municipal atTairs, and 
•was twice elected city clerk. His manifest efficiency in cit^' affairs, and the 
thoroughness with which he mastered every detail, suggested his fitness for 
•mayor, and he was accordingly nominated and elected to that office in March, 
1S52. He was re-elected for two successive years thereafter, and again at a 
time of peculiar importance in municipal affairs in 1S64. A distinguishing 
mark of his first year's administration will ever remain in the trees which adorn 
the parks and streets of Manchester. In July and in October of Mayor Smyth's 
first year, the Whig party lost its two great leaders, — Henry Clay and Daniel 
Webster, — and the attention of the citizens was called to some fitting expres- 
sion of feeling in both cases by a brief message from the mayor. His first 
election was by Whig votes over the opposition of Democrats and Free-Soilers ; 
his second by Whig and Free-Soil votes; his third with very little oppo- 
sition, and his fourth with virtually none at all. During his second year the 
• F. B. Eaton. 




A 

%. 



^^c-e-z-L-o^/ 




G0VKB,NOR or NEW HAMF"; 



1865] SINCE TIIK KKIU-.I.I.IOX. 647 

Amoskeag F"alls biidgewas rebuilt, and parts of Gofistowii ai.^. Bedford were 
annexed to the city. The most lionorable monument, however, which will 
stand to his name is the part he took in the foundation of a free public library. 
In 1855 he was appointed by Governor Metcalf and council, chairman of 
commissioners to locate and build a House of Reformation for juvenile oflonders. 
It was dedicated in 1S5S. In the year 1S57 and 1S5S Mr. Smyth was a mem- 
ber of the State legVslature, and was also made treasurer of the Reform school. 
In the convention which nominated Ichabod Goodwin, in 1859, ^^ stood fourth 
on the list of candidates. In 1S60 he was president of the State Republican 
Convention, and was soon after appointed by Secretary Cha.se one of the 
agents to obtain subscriptions to the national loan. In tS6i he was appointed 
as one of the agents on the part of the United States to the International 
Exhibition at London, where Her Majesty's commissioners made liim a juror. 
Early in the war of the Rebellion he was cashier and principal iinancial 
manager of the Merrimack River Bank, and also of the Merrimack River 
Savings Bank. His faith in the government led him to invest largely in 
bonds and to accept the charter for the bank of discount, which tlienceforth 
became the First National Bank of Manchester. At that time few men or 
banks cared to follow his example, but the event justified his sagacity. 

^ He was elected by a majority of over six thousand, the largest 
majority given to any governor for twenty-four years. He 
entered upon no easy task. The State was beginning to feel 
severely the stress of the time. Gradually a great debt had 
accumulated. Regiment after regiment had been promptly 
equipped and sent into the field, and the banks had advanced 
money quite to the extent of their courage, and nearly to that of 
their ability. In the open market were met the gold bonds of 
the government, free from taxes. The same trouble pulsed 
through all the arteries of the body politic ; and the people of a 
State always careful and conservative in all its expenditures beheld 
with something like dismay this mountain of obligation swollen 
into millions. It was almost impossible to get money for current 
expenses. A previous legislature had authorized the issue of 
three and one-half millions of six per cent. State bonds, payable 
in currency, only $424,000 of which had been taken. Governor 
Smyth, in his first message, recommended the issue of bonds 
better calculated to meet the exigencies of the case, and that 
current expenses be provided for by taxation. As a matter of 
interest to capitalists, he took care to set forth the resources of 
the State, its prudent habit in expenditures, and the hostility to 

' F. B. Eaton. 



64S IlISTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['865 

repudiation in every form which our people had inherited from 
a frugal, patriotic, and God-fearing ancestry. "We must," he 
said, "now observe the most rigid economy in expenditure, and 
bring the expenses to a peace basis as soon as possible. Our 
people are naturally economical, and hold sacred all pecuniary 
obligations." He compared, in a very effective manner, the 
agricultural products of a State vi^hich had hitherto borne the 
reputation of producing only men, with those of some of the 
more fertile members of the Union, to our decided advantage. 
He called to mind the unrivalled water-power with its present 
and prospective improvement, and urged that attention to the 
latent wealth of the State which due regard to our prosperity 
demanded. 

In the first three months of his administration he raised over 
one million of dollars on favorable terms, a large amount of which 
was obtained in Manchester. From that time forward the financial 
affairs of the State received the most scrupulous attention. In 
the haste and waste of war, unavoidable confusion at times arose 
in accounts between the several States and the general govern- 
ment, and it was not only then impossible to pay our debts, but 
equally so to get our dues. Governor Smjth's large acquaintance 
with men gave him influence at headquarters, and he suffered 
no opportunity to pass to advocate the claims of his State. 

At the close of the war. Governor Smyth found the suspended 
and disallowed accounts of the State against the general govern- 
ment of over one million of dollars. These disallowances and 
suspensions were mainly in the expenditures growing out of 
earlier military operations previous to his accession to office. 
Governor Smyth did not busy himself to fix charges of petty 
larceny against one officer, or of wholesale robbery against 
others. He did not assume that every man who was charged 
with fitting out the first regiment sent from the State had stolen 
all that he couldn't duplicate vouchers for on official paper. On 
the contrary, he urged upon the accounting officers, at Wash- 
ington, the impetuous zeal with which the State had responded 
to the call of the government, and represented the impossibility 
of complete exactness in the accounts. Under such circum- 



1 866] SINCE THE KEBELLIOX. 649 

stances he exerted himself to obtain vouchers wlierc his prede- 
cessor had omitted to secure them, and to explain their absence 
when they could not be procured. In this way he saved hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars to the treasury of the State, and 
put no stain on its fair fame. 

At the end of his first year, his nomination for a second term 
followed as a matter of course, and he was re-elected in 1866 by 
a large majority. 

The second year of Governor Smyth's administration was in 
all respects as satisfactory as the first. The State debt was 
funded at a lower rate of interest than was offered by the gen- 
eral government. The revision of the statutes, the reorganiza- 
tion of the militia, measures looking to the restoration of fish to 
our waters, and the publication of ancient State papers, are 
among some of the matters of general interest. 

Said the Boston Jotirnal. on his retirement at the close of the second term : 
"Governor Smvth's administration lias been highly successful, not only in a 
financial point of view, which is demonstrated by statistics, but in all other 
respects." Said the Comtnercial Bulletin: "He has been as vigorous and 
careful of the interests of the people as if those concerns were personal to 
himself, and successfully sought so to manage the financial affairs of the State 
that its credit stands as well as any other commonwealth." Said the Daily 
Monitor: " To-daj' Governor Smyth resigns his trust with the proud con- 
sciousness of leaving nothing uncertain or unsettled which diligence, busi- ■ 
ness tact, and untiring zeal could close up and arrange; nor has Governor 
Smyth's administration been merely a financial success ; he has neglected no 
single public interest; himself a practical example of all the virtues which 
constitute a good citizen, he has interested himself in every movement which 
looked to the welfare of the community and the promotion of industry, tem- 
perance, and good morals among the people." 

It is a significant fact, that in a time of much party feeling the governor 
was able to sav in his valedictory, "Whatever may have been the difterence 
of opinion among us, there has been no factious opposition from any source 
to measures necessary for the public good, but I have been uniformly receiv- 
ing the hearty co-operation of all parties in this difficult work." Only once 
during his two years' administration did he consider it necessary to interpose 
his veto, and the House sustained him 132 to 6. 

So successful was the administration that, contrary to precedent, many of 
the most influential and respectable journals of the State advocated his nom- 
ination for a third term.' 

2While on a visit to his native State in 1852, Mr. Sylvester 

I F. B. Eaton. = C. C. CofBn. 



650 



IlISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[1866 



^lai'sh ascended Mount Washington, accompanied by Rev. A. 
C. Tliompson, pastor of tiie Eliot Church, Roxlnii y, and while 
struggling up the steep ascent, the idea came to him that a rail- 
road to the summit was feasible, and that it could be made a 
profitable enterprise. He obtained a charter for such a road in 
1858, but the breaking out of the war postponed action till 1866, 
when a company was formed and the enterprise successfully in- 
augurated and completed. 





^10U\T WASHINGTON RA LROAD. 



The subject, referred to by Governor Smyth in his message 
to the legislature in June, 1866, of preserving the documents 
and early archives of the Province and State, met with the ap- 
proval of the legislature, and led to the appointment of Rev. 
Nathaniel Bouton, D. D., as "editor and compiler of Provincial 
Records." Dr. Bouton was at the time corresponding secretary 
of the New Hampshire Historical Society. This society was 
organized and incorporated in the summer of 1823 by William 
Plumer, Levi Woodbury, Nathaniel A. Haven, George Kent, 
Jacob B. Moore, Nathaniel Adams, Parker Nnves, Jolm Farmer, 



1867] SINCE THE REBELLION. 651 

Ichabod Bartlett, Timothy Upham, Andrew Peirce, Samuel 
Dana Bell, Richard Bartlett, and others. William Plunier was 
the first president ; and lie was succeeded in office by Levi 
Woodbury, Ichabod Bartlett, Salma Hale, Matthew Harvey, 
Charles H. Atherton, Joel Parker, Nathaniel Bouton, Nathaniel 
. G. (Jphani, Samuel D. Bell, Charles Burroughs, Levi Chamber- 
lain, William Plumer, jr., Chandler E. Potter, PIdwin D. Sanborn, 
Joseph Dow, William H. Y. Plackett, Charles H. Bell, and, in 
1S87, by J. Everett Sargent. The society published, in 1824, 
their first volume; in 1866, their eighth volume; in 1888, the 
first volume of "Proceedings." 

Dr. Bouton ' resigned his pastorate of the North Church, in 
Concord, which he had held since 1825, devoted his time and 
energy to the work, and edited ten volumes of "Provincial and 
State Papers." After Dr. Bouton's death, the work was carried 
on by Isaac W. Hammond, who in 188S had published six addi- 
tional volumes. 

In 1867 General Walter Harriman received and accepted the 
nomination of the Republican party for governor, and after a 
most exciting campaign, during which he engaged in a joint 
canvass with Hon. John G. Sinclair, the Democratic candidate, 
he was elected to the chief magistracy of the State, and was re- 
elected in 1 868, after another hard-fought campaign, by a larger 
vote tiian had ever been cast for a gubernatorial candidate up to 
that time. 

"Walter H.Tniman, of old Massachusetts colonial stock, was born in War- 
ner, in 1S17. He was a forcible and eloquent orator, for some jears in early 
manhood in the ministry; but afterwards he engaged in commercial pursuits, 
and became prominent in military and political affairs. He was chosen to 
the House of Representatives in 1849, and again in 1850, from his native 
town. In 1853 he was elected State treasurer. In 185S he was again elected 
to the legislature by the people of Warner, and was the Democratic candidate 
for speaker. In 1859 he was elected to the State Senate, and was re-elected 
the following year, occupying each year a leading position in that bod3'. 
From his entry into political life he had been an active champion of the prin- 
ciples of his party upon the stump, and soon came to be regarded as one of 
the most effective campaign speakers in the State, so that his services in this 

^ Nathaniel b,,uiuii was born in Noiwalk, Conn., June 20, 1700; graduated at Ya!e Colleje in 
1821 ; wa3 ordained at Concord, March 23, 1825 ; resigned March 23, 1S67; died June 6, 137S. 

-Rev. S- c. Beane. 



652 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1867 

direction were most eagerly sought whenever political issues were occupying 
the public mind. 

In the spring of 1S61 he became editor and joint proprietor of the Union 
Dimocrat at Manchester. Regarding all other political considerations as of 
secondary moment, in the great emergency when the perpetuity of the federal 
Union and the supremacy of the constitution were threatened by armed re- 
bellion, he unreservedly sustained, individually and in his editorial capacity, 
the administration of President Lincoln in the measures adopted for the pros- 
ecution of the war against Rebellion, thereby taking issue with the great ma- 
jority of his party, who, while they believed in maintaining the Union invio- 
late, persisted in their right to criticize the policy of the administration, and 
to oppose such measures as they believed inappropriate to the legitimate end 
in view. Hence he found himself acting with those distinctively known as 
"War Democrats," and continued to urge the surrender of all partisan issues, 
in view of the great contest in which the country was involved. 

In August. 1S62. he was made colonel of the Eleventh. He led this regi- 
ment to the field, and was at its head most of the time until the close of the 
war, except the four months, from May to September, 1864, when he was an 
inmate of Confederate prisons. With some other captured Union officers, he 
was, for seven weeks of this time, imprisoned in that part of Charleston, S. 
C, which was most exposed to the fire of the Union guns from Morris 
Island, but providentially, though that part of the doomed city was destroyed, 
no harm came to him from the guns of his fellow-loyalists. 

The first set battle in which the Eleventh bore a part was that of Fredericks- 
burg, in December, 1S62, when, with unflinching courage. Col. Harriman and 
his men faced the dreadful carnage of that long day before Marye's Height, 
less than three months after their arrival in the field. The loss of the regi- 
ment in this engagement was terrific. The Eleventh, under their colonel, at 
the front, was in the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1S64, when they made 
a daring and stubborn onset on the Confederate intrenchments, carrying be- 
fore them two successive lines of the enemy's works. But among the five 
thousand Union men that were captured in that bloody engagement, the com- 
mander of the Eleventh was included. Colonel Harriman and the survivors 
of the charge were present at the final grapple of the war before Petersburg, 
and on the 3d day of April, 1865, he led a brigade of nine large regiments, a 
force three times as great as the whole American army at Bunker Hill, into 
that fated city, on the heels of Lee's fleeing command. Colonel Harriman 
-vvas appointed brigadier-general, U. S. V., by brevet, "for gallant conduct 
during the war," to date from March 13, 1865. 

On his arrival home, at the close of the war. General Harriman was elected 
to the office of secretary of state, by the legislature then in session, and he at 
once entered upon the duties of the office, which he held two years, and until 
his promotion to the gubernatorial chair. 

He was distinguished as a platform speaker. His delivery was fine, his 
logic clear as crystal, his manner easy and natural, and his physical force 
tremendous. With a voice clear and distinct as a trumpet, of immense com- 



1867] SINCE THE KEIiEM.ION. gri 

lass, volume, and power, his infliience over an andience was complete, lie 
iftected nothing, but proceeded at once to the work in liand, and from the 
^ery outset carried his hearers with hhn, rising, at times, with the inspira- 
ion of his theme, to the loftiest flights of eloquence. 
During the presidential campaign of 1S6S, Governor Ilarriman engaged 
ctively in the canvass, inaking an extended tour through the Middle and 
Vestern States in advocacy of the election of General Grant, the Republican 
lominee, by whom, upon his accession to the presidency the following spring, 
iie was appointed to the position of naval olUcer at the port of Boston, which 
office he continued to hold during the entire eight years of General Grant's 
administration, retiring therefrom in 1S77. His voice has been often heard in 
many of the States of the Union, and be was widely known as an able and 
■eftective political debater. 

General Ilarriman retained his home in Warner until tlie spring of 1S7J, 
■when he removed to Concord, where he died July 25, iS8^. 

In 1867 a State superintendent of public in.struclion was 
appointed. At first he co-operated with a board consisting of the 
governor and Council; but later he acted alone. His duties 
were to cultivate an interest in the public schools and to raise 
the standard of their efficiency. Amos Iladley was the first to 
fill the office. Ex-senator James W. Patterson was appointed in 
1880. The present system took the place of a county system of 
supervision called a Board of Education, which had its secretary 
and went into effect in 1851. 

The first effort to organize a State supervision of schools was 

made in 1846 by the appointment of a commissioner. The first 

incumbent of the office was Charles B. Haddock, who made the 

first State report. In 1885 the towns, by law, were made 

school districts, and the schools were placed under the direction 

of a board of education consisting of three members directly 

tinder the government of the town. In the larger towns there 

\as been for many years a system of graded schools at which 

he children of the State have been afforded good educational 

acilities. The New Hampshire State Normal School was 

stablished in 1871, at Plymouth, for the education of teachers, 

nd is controlled by a board of trustees. Previously and since, 

eachers' institutes have been maintained for the purpose of 

mproving methods of instruction in the State. 

Besides Dartmouth College and Phillips Exeter Academy 
here are seminaries, schools, and academies scattered throughout 



6S4 HISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1867 

the State. St. Paul school at Concord, under the direction of 
Dr. Henry A. Coit, has become one of the most celebrated 
schools of America. There is the normal school at Plymouth, the 
Holderness school for boys ; the Colby academy, at New Lon- 
don ; the seminary, at Tilton ; the institution, at New Hamp- 
ton (1821); Appleton academy (1789), at New Ipswich; Pink- 
erton academy ( 1 8 14), and Adams female academy at Derry ; Rob- 
inson female seminary, at E.xeter ; Brackett academy, at Green- 
land ; Valley academy, at Hillsborough ; McGaw normal institute, 
at Merrimack ; classical institute, at Milton ; McCollom institute, 
Mont Vernon; Kimball union academy (18 13), at Meriden ; 
Dearborn academy, at Seabrook ; Barnard school, at South 
Hampton ; and Austin academy, at Strafford. There are acad- 
emies at Andover, Atkinson (1791), Boscawen, Bath, Canaan, 
Chester, Colebrook,Contoocook, Penacook, North Conway, Dcer- 
ing, Epping, Francestown (1819), Gilmantown (1794), Hampton, 
Haverhill (1794), Henniker, Hopkinton, Kingston, Marlow, North- 
wood, Orford, Pembroke (18 18), Pittsfield, Portsmouth, (1808), 
Sandwich, Salisbury, Washington, and Wolfeborough. There 
are high schools at Bristol, Charlestown, Claremont, Concord, 
Dover, Dunbarton, P'armington, Exeter, Franklin, Freedom, 
Hampstead, Hancock, Hinsdale, Jaffrey, Keene, Laconia, Lake 
Village, Lancaster, Lebanon, Littleton, Manchester, Marlbor- 
ough, Milford, Nashua, Newport, Petersborough, Portsmouth, 
Raymond, Rochester, Rollinsford, Great Falls, Troy, Walpole, 
Warren, Weare, and Winchester. 

The State industrial school, situated on the farm of General 
John Stark, was chartered in 1855, and opened in 1858. 

Col. John B. Clarke, of Manchester, was elected State printer 
in 1S67. He was re-elected in 1868, 1869, 1877, 1878,1879, 1885, 
and 1887. John Badger Clarke, son of Greanleaf and Julia 
(Cogswell) Clarke, was born in Atkinson, January 30, 1820; 
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1843 ; studied law ; and in 
1852 became proprietor of the Mirror and American, and the 
Mirror and Farmer. His life's work has been the building of 
these great newspapers from a small beginning to a most influ- 
ential place among New England journals. In 1888 the Mirror 




/.A C 7^^ 



lS6S] SINCE THE KEI!EM.IOX. 



655 



was welcomed in about thirty tliousand households, its influence 
felt far beyond the frontiers of the State. Under the manatee, 
ment of the "genial, liberal, enterprising, and able" editor, the 
Mirror has become a power. Colonel Clarke has been aided in 
liis editorial work by James O. Adams and Henry M. Putney. 
It has always represented the most aggressive Republican ideas. 
Its Democratic rival in Manchester is the Univn, established in 
1S51, the daily edition of which reaches nearly fourteen thousand, 
while of the Weekly Union seventeen thousand are issued. The 
success of the Union has also largely been due to the efforts of 
one man, Hon. Joseph C. Moore, M. D. Joseph Clifford Moore, 
son of Dr. F. and Frances F. Moore, was born in Loudon, August 
23, 1845; received a common-school education; attended the 
New York Medical College ; and commenced to practise with his 
father at Lake Village, in 1866. In 1879 he became interested 
in building up the Union, and splendidly succeeded, soon making 
it a widely read and influential morning newspaper. In 1884 
Dartmouth College conferred upon him the degree of A. M. 
• He was one of the prime movers in organizing the popular New 
Hampshire Club, and served as its president. 

A State news department, arranged by counties, was first 
started in the People, at Concord, in 1868, by Henry H. Metcalf. 
In 1877 he started the Granite Monthly, at Dover; and in 1879 
issued it at Concord. From the burden of his editorial work he 
was obliged to relinquish his interest in the magazine to John N. 
McClintock, who afterwards carried it on, until, in 1888 eleven 
volumes had been published, devoted chiefly to historical and 
biographical matters. 

Of the one hundred and seven publications issued in New 
Hampshire, the Gazette oi Portsmouth was established in 1756, 
XhQ Journal in 1793 ; the Cheshire Republican in 1793 ; the Sen- 
tinel in 1799, both of Keene ; the Amherst Cabinet in 1802 ; the 
People and Patriot in 1809, the Statesman in 1823, both of Con- 
cord ; the Argus and Spectator, of Newport, in 1823 ; the Dover 
Enquirer and Nashua Gazette in 1827 ; the Exeter News Letter 
in 183 1 ; the Nashua Telegraph in 1832. The Manchester Union 
and the People and Patriot claim to be the leading Democratic 



656 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['S/O 

journals. Tlie two leading Republican papers are the Statesman 
and the Manchester Mhivr and Ajncrkan. 

In the Republican State convention of 1869 no name but 
that of Onslow Stearns was presented for the gubernatorial nom- 
ination, which was conferred upon him by acclamation, a cir- 
cumstance of rare occurrence in the case of a first nomination. 
He was elected, by a decided majority over Gen. John Bedel, 
the Democratic candidate, and was renominated the following 
year. He sent a letter to the convention, declining the renom- 
ination, on account of the state of his health and the pressure of 
business cares, but the convention refused to accept the decli- 
nation, and a committee was appointed to wait upon him and 
urge its withdrawal, which was finally successful in its efforts. 
His re-election followed, and for another year he devoted nc 
small share of his attention to the interests of the State, not. 
withstanding the varied demands of the extensive corporate 
interests under his management. To the financial affairs of the 
State his care was especially directed, and during his administra- 
tion the State debt was reduced nearly one-third, while the State 
tax was also reduced in still greater proportion. He also took a 
lively interest in the management of the State Prison, and was 
instrumental in effecting great changes therein, securing more 
thorough discipline and putting the institution upon a paying 
basis, whereas it had long been run at a pecuniary loss to the 
State. 

In the discharge of all his public duties, Mr. Stearns always 
sought to treat the matter in hand in a thoroughly practical and 
business-like manner, exercising the same judgment and dis- 
crimination as in the management of his private and business 
affairs. Although firmly attached to his party, he was less a 
partisan in the exercise of his official functions than many of 
his predecessors had been, and was the first Republican gover- 
nor of New Hampshire to nominate a Democrat to a position 
upon the supreme bench, which he did in 1870, when Hon- 
Wm. S. Ladd of Lancaster was made an associate justice of 
the Supreme Judicial Court to fill the vacancy caused by the re- 
tirement of Judge George W. Nesmith. 




{jL^^^c^Jzr^^. 




'coT^in-f^ >^n: /v^ztff'H^ 



'871] SINCE TilE KEIiEI.LION. (3^7 

Governor Stearns was born in Billerica, August 10, iSio; settled in Con- 
cord in 1S45, where lie was largely interested in the railroad enterprises of 
New England; and died December 29, 187S. 

He was a public spirited and generous man, contributing liberally to all 
that was calculated to advance the interests of his adopted city. 

The long and arduous labor of his life was not without its substantial re- 
ward, and he became the possessor of an ample fortune, enabling him to 
dispense a liberal hospitality. Among the many distinguished persons enter- 
tained in his elegant mansion were two incumbents of the chief magistracy 
ofthe United States — General Grant and Mr. Hayes, each of whom became 
his guest when visiting Concord. 

In 1S71 James A. Weston was chosen governor. 

'James Adams Weston was born in Manchester, August 27, 1827, and was 
descended from John Weston, one of the founders of Weymouth, Massachu- 
setts, and James Wilson, one ofthe Londonderry colonists. 

As a civil engineer, he occupies a place in the front rank in his profession 
in New England ; and his services have been in demand far beyond his ability 
to respond, in making surveys for proposed railways and water-works. 

In his political convictions and associations, Mr. Weston has been a Dem- 
ocrat from youth. 

A devoted supporter ofthe principles and policy of his party, he has won 
and held the personal respect of both friends and opponents in political 
affairs; so that, when a candidate for public office, he has never failed of 
strong popular support, measurably exceeding that of his party strength 
alone. In 1861 he was persuaded to accept the Democratic nomination for 
mayor of Manchester. 

Again, in 1S67, Mr. Weston was pressed into service by his party associates 
in the city, as a mayoralty candidate against Hon. Joseph H. Clark, then 
mayor, and Republican candidate for re-election. This canvass resulted in 
his election. 

At the next election the Republicans made a strong and determined effort 
to regain their ascendency in the city ; the returns gave Mayor Weston a 
majority of seven votes over his Republican opponent, Hon. Isaac W. Smith. 
The " revising" process was resorted to, however, and the latter declared 
elected by twenty-three majority. In 1S69 Mr. Weston defeated Mayor Smith 
by a good majority, and was re-elected the following year. 

Mayor Weston's remarkable success as the standard-bearer of his party in 
the city of Manchester, and the increased popularity he had secured by wise 
and efficient administration of municipal affairs in that large and prosperous 
community, suggested him to the Democracy of the State at large as a most 
fit and available candidate for the gubernatorial nomination ; and at the State 
convention, in January, 1S7:, he was made the nominee ofthe party for gov- 
ernor. 

The election resulted in no choice of governor by the people, 

'H. H. lletcalf. 



658 HISTOKV OF NEW II.\ M PS!! IRE. ['S/I 

though Mr. Weston received a decided plurality of the votes 
cast, and was chosen governor by the legislature in June follow- 
ing, — the Republicans thus losing control of the State govern- 
ment for the first time since their advent to power in 1855- 
Determined to retrieve their fallen fortunes, the Republican 
leaders, in 1 872, brought to the front, as their standard-bearer and 
gubernatorial nominee, Hon. Ezekiel A. Straw, agent of the 
Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, a man of great resources 
and unparalleled influence in manufacturing circles, not only in 
Manchester, but throughout the State. His defeat of Governor 
Weston in the following canvass was a matter of no surprise to 
either party ; and his re-election the subsequent year naturally 
resulted. The Democracy, however, insisted on continuing Mr. 
Weston as their candidate ; and in 1874 he secured a handsome 
plurality, and was again elected governor by the legislatuie. In 
December previous he had received the unusual distinction of a 
fourth election as mayor of the city, being chosen by a majority 
much larger than he had ever before received, reaching some six 
hundred votes. Although there was great partisan excitement 
in the State during Mr. Weston's second administration, his 
official integrity and thorough devotion to the welfare of the 
State were conceded even by his most determined political oppo- 
nents; and no man holds in fuller measure the respect and 
esteem of the people, regardless of party, than does James A. 
Weston, the only living Democrat who ever occupied that 
position. 

Other men in New Hampshire have attained greater wealth and more 
varied public honors; but when all the elements of substantial success are 
considered, there are none, certainly, who outrank James A. Weston. Cau- 
tious, sagacious, and methodical ; with a well-balanced mind, and executive 
ability of a high order; scrupulously exact in the performance of every duty 
and the discharge of every trust, public or private; uniformly courteous in 
his intercourse with others, and mindful of every obligation to society and 
humanity, — the ample measure of success he has attained, and the general 
esteem in which he is held, are but the legitimate outcome of his life and 
conduct.' 

Bishop Baker died in Concord, December 20, 1S71. Right 
Rev. Osmand Cleander Baker, son of Dr. Isaac and Abigail 

' n. H, Mctcalf. 



«872| SIN-CE Till.; KEUKI.LIO.N. g^ 

(Kidder) Baker, was born in Mario w, July 30, 1S12. Entered 
Middletown University in 1S30, and left at the'end of his junior 
year on account of sickness. He was consecrated bishop of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in 1852. 

In 1872, the Republican party, after the defeat of the previous 
year, selected as their standard bearer Hon. lizekiel A. Straw 
of Manchester, the agent of the Amoskeag corporation, and 
elected him. 

Governor Straw was born in December, iSiy, in Salisbury; was educated 
at the Phillips Exeter Academy, and became a civil engineer. He received 
emplovment in July, 1S3S, from the Amoskeag company, and continued in 
their employ until his death. He was in the company's service as engineer 
lor thirteen years. In 1S51 Mr. Straw was appointed lo the position of agent 
of the land and water-power department of the company. Five years later 
the machine shops were also put in his charge, and in 185S the mills were 
added; so that he became the active manager of the entire business of the 
company. He was representative from 1S59 to iSf.3 inclusive, and served 
efficiently for the last three years as chairman of the Committee on Finance, 
at that time — the war period — one of the most important of the legislative 
committees. In 1864 he was chosen a senator. 

In the oflice of chief magistrate of the State, which he filled 
for two years, being re-elected in 1873, Mr. Straw maintained his 
independence of character, and acted throughout as his own 
judgment dictated, looking only to the best interests of the 
people as viewed from his standpoint. No governor ever brought 
to the position a higher degree of executive ability and practical 
knowledge of affairs, or was more universally governed in the 
performance of his duties by his own convictions of right. After 
Tie retired from the ofTice of governor, Mr. Straw was not engaged 
in public service until his death. 

Asa Fowler was speaker of the House of Representatives in 
1872. 

Asa Fowler was born in Pembroke, February 23, 181 1; 
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1833 ; studied law, and settled 
in Concord. In 1855 he was nominated by the Independent 
Democrats, or Free-Soilers, as their candidate for governor, and 
the same year he accepted the position of associate justice of 
the Supreme Court. He resigned in 1861. He died April 
26, 1885. 



66o mSTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1873 

Judge Fowler was one of the most diligent, laborious, and 
successful lawyers in the State, and for many years he had the 
largest practice. At different times he was associated with 
Franklin Pierce, John Y. Mugridge, and William E. Chandler. 
He drafted more bills for the legislature than any other man. 

The beautiful Fowler Library, presented in 1888 as a gift to 
the city of Concord by his children, may be considered a monu- 
ment to his memory. 

In March, 1873, upon the death of Chief Justice Bellows,. 
Judge J. Everett Sargent was appointed chief justice of the 
State, which place he held until August, 1874, when the court 
was overturned. Chief Justice Sargent, at the time of his ap- 
pointment as chief justice, had become the oldest judge upon 
the bench, both in age and date of commission, so frequent had 
been the changes in its members since his appointment to that 
bench, less than fourteen years before. 

Jonathan Everett Sargent was born at New London, October 23, 1816. He 
lived at home, working upon the farm until he was seventeen years of age. 

He studied at Hopkinton and Kimball Union acidemies, Entered Dart- 
mouth College and graduated in 1S40. He studied law with Hon. W. P. 
Weeks, of Canaan, and on a visit to Washington was admitted to the bar in 
1842. 

After returning home, he continued his legal studies with Mr. Weeks until 
the July law term, in Sullivan county, in 1S43, when he was admitted to the 
bar. He then went into company with Mr Weeks at Canaan, where he re- 
mained till 1S47, when he removed to Wentworth and opened an office there- 
He had been appointed solicitor for Grafton county in November, 1844, 
■while at Canaan, and he at once commenced a lucrative business at Went- 
worth; was reappointed solicitor in 1S49 '°'' ^^^ years more, thus holding 
the office for ten years, to 1S54, performing the duties to the entire acceptance 
of the county and the people. He declined a reappointment. 

In 1S51 he was first elected a member of the legislature from Wentworth 
and served as chairman of the committee on incorporations. The next year 
he was re-elected, and was made chairman of the judiciary committee, and in 
1853 he was again a member, and was nominated with great unanimity and 
elected as speaker of the House of Representatives. He served with ability 
and impartiality and to the general acceptance of all parties. 

The next winter a new man was to be selected as a candidate for senator in 
his district, and at the' convention he was nominated with great unanimity, 
and was elected in March, in a close district, by about three hundred major- 
ity. When the Senate met in June, there was some discussion as to a candi- 
date for president, but at the caucus he was nominated upon the first ballot. 




CyVh^a/y-tj^ y^VTl U{ 



LA^yt-T^ 



1873] SINCE THE KEr.ELl.lON. ,„,, 

and was diil.v elected as president of the Senate in 1S51. He was renominated 
in the spring of 1S55, but the Know-Nothing nujveniLiU Ihat year carried 
everything before it, and he was defeated, with nearly all the other Demo- 
cratic nominees in the State. On the 2d d.iy of April he was appointed a cir- 
cuit justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the State. But in June of that 
year, the old courts were abolished and new ones organized. Jud<'e Sar"enl 
was making his arrangements to go into practice again at the bar when he 
received a request from Governor Metcalf that he would accept the second 
place on the bench of the new Court of Common Pleas. This offer was ac 
cepted, anil Judge Sargent was appointed as an associate justice of the Court 
of Common Pleas. 

After the repeal of the Missouri compromise and the passage of the Kansas- 
Nebraska Act in 1S54, the great question between the political parties for sev- 
eral years, during the contests in Kansas that followed, was as to whether 
slavery should be allowed in the Territories, or whether they should be free. 
In the mind ofjudge Sargent there could be but one answer to this question, 
and in acting according to his convictions of right in that matter he was 
compelled to oppose the party with which he had hitherto acted ; and in car- 
rying out liis convictions consistently he could do no other way than to go 
with the Republican party. 

lie acted as judge of the new Court of Conitnon I'leas for four years, until 
1S59, when, by a statute of that year, that court was abolished, and the Su- 
preme Judicial Court was to do the work of that court in addition to its own, 
and one new judge was to be added to that court, making the number of Su- 
preiTie Court judges six instead of five, as before. Judge Sargent was at once 
appointed to that place on the supreme bench. He was then the youngest 
member of the court in age, as well as in the date of his commission. He 
remained upon the bench of that court just fifteen years, from 1S59 to 1S74. 
He was distinguished for his laborious industry, his impartiality, and his 
ability. His written opinions are contained in the sixteen volumes of the 
New Hampshire Reports, from the 39th to the 54th inclusive, numbering 
about three hundred in all. Many of these are leading opinions upon various 
subjects, and show great learning and research. Since 1869 Judge Sargent 
has resided in Concord, devoting his attention at first to law, and later to 
finances and historical studies. He succeeded Hon. Charles H. Bell as pres- 
ident of the New Hampshire Historical Society in 1887. 

In 1873, Charles H. Burns, of Wilton, one of the ablest law- 
yers and one of the most eloquent orators of New Hampshire, 
was elected to the State Senate. Charles H. Burns, son of 
Charles A. and Elizabeth (Hutchinson) Burns, and a descendant 
of John Burns, the pioneer Scotch-Irish settler, who settled in 
Milford in 1746, was born in Milford, January 19, 1835. He re- 
ceived a hic,'h-school education, read law with Col. O. W. Lull, 
graduated at the Har^'ard Law School in 1858, and was soon 



662 HISTORY OF NEW HAMI'SHIRE. [iS/S 

after admitted to the bar. He settled in Wilton, although his 
business grew to require an office at Nashua. In 1876 he was 
appointed county solicitor of Hillsborough county, and served 
seven years. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1879. In 1881 
he was appointed United States district attorney for New 
Hampshire and re-appointed in 1885. In 1883 his many friends 
desired to elect him to the United States Senate. 

During Governor James A. Weston's second term in office, in 
1874, he was supported by a Democratic majority in the Senate 
and House of Representatives. There was a complete overturn 
in all State offices. 

1 In 187s, under peculiar circumstances, Person C. Cheney be- 
came the Republican candidate for governor. In 1874 the Re- 
publicans had lost the State for causes which it would not be 
useful to recite ; and the Democrats, having control of every 
branch of legislation, had used their power to fortify themselves 
in the possession of the State government, by making new ward 
divisions in the city of Manchester, and redistricting for coun- 
cillors and senators, in such a manner as to put their adversaries 
at great disadvantage, and render it almost impossible to recover 
the State. Under such circumstances it became absolutely 
necessary for them to place at the head of the ticket a name of 
the greatest personal popularity. Such were the prestige of Mr. 
Cheney, gained by his successful administration as mayor of 
Manchester, his personal magnetism among those who knew 
him, and his well-known energy as a canvasser, that, unexpect- 
edly to himself, he was selected as the standard bearer of his 
party, and the result proved how wisely. The hottest campaign 
ever known in a State proverbial for the violence of its political 
contests ensued, and there was no choice of governor by the 
people ; but Mr. Cheney had a plurality of the votes cast, al- 
though Judge Roberts, his competitor, received the heaviest 
vote his party had ever polled in New Hampshire. The Repub- 
licans secured a majority in the legislature, which elected Mr. 
Cheney governor. In 1876 Governor Cheney was again a can- 
didate, and after a canvass which exceeded in intensity even that 

' Daniel Hall. 




J 



^ 



')^A 



1876] siNCK Tiir. kl:i;ici.lk)n. (-,f-,, 

of 1S75, he was rc-clcctcd l)y a flattcrin;^- majority of Iho popular 
vote, which was heavier than liad ever before been cast in New 
Hampshire. Mr. Cheney brought to the office of governor a 
jjatriotic love for the State and solicitude for her good name, a 
clear insight, great executive ability, thorough business habits, 
and personal dignity, urbanity, and tact of a high order. These 
•qualities, combined with his undoubted integrity and earnest- 
ness of purpose, enabled him to give the State a most prudent 
and successful administration of its affairs. The retrenchment 
of expenses, so much needed in a period of financial depression 
following years of sharp distress, was kept steadily in view, and 
a thorough business system inaugurated in all branches of tiie 
government ; the affairs of the adjutant-general's office were re- 
deemed from years of neglect and confusion ; the State debt was 
materially reduced ; at his suggestion a law was passed requiring 
vouchers to be filed for all disbursements from the governor's 
contingent fund ; and the finances of the State were left in all 
respects upon a sound and stable basis. The prominent part of 
New Hampshire in the Centennial Exposition was due largely 
to his foresight, his faith in its benefits, and his untiring efforts 
in its behalf. None who participated in them will ever forget 
the brilliant success of "New Hampshire Day" at Philadelphia, 
or the reception of Governor and Mrs. Cheney, during his term 
of office, to the members of the legislature and the citizens of 
the State, at White's Opera House, which was a memorable 
social event. 

Governor Cheney retired from office with the universal respect 
and esteem of men of all parties, and has since devoted himself 
closely to business. 

Person C. Cheney was born in th.at part of lloklerness which is now Ash- 
land, February 25, iSjS. The square, olj-fashioned New England house, 
where the family resided, is still to be seen. It stands in the picturesque 
village of Ashland, overlooking the valley below, and commandini; a view of 
lofty hills and beautiful scenery. His boyhood and early manhood were 
passed at Peterborough. 

Mr. Cheney took an early interest in politics, and represented the town of 
Peterborough in the legislature in 1853 and 1854. He entered ardently into 
the memorable events of 1S60 and 1861. and zealously aided and promoted the 
preparation of the State for the great struggle to maintain the fnion. In due 



664 IIISTOKV OV NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['876 

time he oftered his personal services, and in August. 1S62, was appointed 
quartermaster of the Thirteenth regiment, and proceeded with the regiment 
to the seat of" war. Joining the army of the Potomac, he rendered faithful 
service to the regiment and the country, until exposure and overwork in the 
campaign before Fredericksburg brought on a long and dangerous sickness. 
Barely escaping with his life, he was compelled to resign and return home. 
He received an honorable discharge in August, 1S63. In 1S64 he was chosen 
railroad commissioner for New Hampshire. In 1866 Mr. Cheney removed to 
Manchester. 

Mr. Chenev, upon becoming a resident of Manchester, became at once 
thoroughly and prominently identified with the development and prosperity 
of that rapidly growing city; and very soon his business capacity and in- 
tegritv, his liberal spirit and engaging manners, attracted attention to him as 
a man not onlv highly fitted for public honors, but as pre-eminently capable 
of commanding them at the hands of the people. He was brought forward 
as a candidate for mayor of Manchester in 1S71, and elected by a larger ma- 
jority than any candidate had received since 1S63. He performed the duties 
intelligently and to general acceptance, but declined a re-election. Mr. 
Cheney for many years has been extensively interested in manufacturing en- 
terprises and in banking. 

During Governor Currier's administration, a vacancy occurring in the 
United States Senate by the death of Hon. Austin F. Pike, Mr. Cheney was 
appointed bv the governor to act as senator until the meeting of the legisla- 
ture the following June, which position he accepted and filled, but declined 
to be a candidate for an election by that body. 

' A brave, true, and honest man, a sincere and warm-hearted friend, of 
positive convictions, of unflinching devotion to principle, and fitted for any 
station ; his useful service, his honorable and upright character, and his high 
and unselfish aims, have made him a power in the State. 

Having considered Exeter in 1776, a glance at the town a cen- 
tury later maybe of interest. It chief object of interest at the 
latter date is Phillips Exeter Academy. 

2 This venerable institution is one of the oldest nurseries of 
classical education in America. It was founded in 1783 by Dr. 
John Phillips, a merchant of Exeter, in the days when that town 
was a business centre and the shipment of heavy goods was by 
water, in vessels of a few hundred tons burden. Dr. Phillips hav- 
ing amassed a considerable fortune, seems to have determined on 
the perpetuation of the family name, not especially to satisfy 
family pride, but to confer a lasting blessing on a posterity ever 
ready to acknowledge its obligations to the world's benefactors. 

Exeter of 1888 only contains double the number of inhabi- 

■ n.miel Hall. - H. H. Metcalf. 



'^76] SINCE THE KEIiELLlOX rr 

005 

tants it (lid in i--r'i ^'^^^ ;t., .,„i-..,.,.i 1 . 

' iK-iut) icmims xlmost im 




disturbed. The Squamscott river is as placid and the falls above 
It awaken scarcely a new echo, while manv of those incident to 



666 



IIISTOKV OF .\i;\V HAMPSHIRE. [l^7(> 



shipping died along its banks forty or fifty years since. A cot- 
ton-mill by the river side and a machine-shop and foundry near 
the depot, are the princijjal manufactories, and occupy the 
place of corn-mills, saw-mills, and a few tanneries. The latter, 
in active operation, with shipping, ship-building, and country 
trade, were the foundation of prosperity and wealth one hundred 
years ago. It was the fortune of Dr. Phillips to endow an in- 
stitution more lasting than all of these, and the fortune of pos- 
terity to reap the manifold results of such a beneficent endow- 
ment. It appears by the catalogue of 1783 that 56 students 
attended, and of these, 38 belonged to Exeter. As early as 
1785 there was one student from the West Indies. Before the 
year 1800 a dozen had attended from the West Indies; and 
other States besides New Hampshire were well represented. 
The number attending to April, 1869, was 3855. This number 
must have increased to nearly five thousand. 

The list of principals is wonderfully short. Only four names 
appear. Dr. Benjamin Abbott, Dr. Gideon L. Soule, Albert C. 
Perkins, and W. O. Scott. The labors of Dr. Abbott and Dr. 
Soule cover more than three-fourths of a century of indefatiga- 
ble toil and unremitting aid to those climbing the hill of science. 
Dr. Abbott was principal of the academy from 1788 to 1838, 
— just half a century. Dr. Soule, having been already associated 
with Dr. Abbott for about seventeen years, was elected princi- 
pal in 1838, and held the position until 1873. The success, the 
fame, and the lasting reputation of the school is largely attribu- 
table to the efforts of these venerable instructors. 

Among the pupils of E.xeter were Lewis Cass, Daniel Web- 
ster, Leverett Saltonstall, Joseph G. Coggswell, Edward Everett, 
John A. Dix, John G. Palfrey, Jared Sparks, George Bancroft, 
and others eminent in learning and statesmanship. 

The academy building being destroyed by fire in December, 
1870, donations for the new building delicately and modestly 
dropped into the trustee's hands from members of the alumni, 
until (with contributions from other beneficent sources) the sum 
swelled to $50,000, or enough to complete the new academy 
buildin"-. 




(^Bdt^^J/CCwyt^Zi^ 



1^76] SINCE THE REBELLION. ^^,7 

The academy building destroyed in 1870 was erected in 1794 
with the exception of the " wings," which were afterwards addeil.' 

In 1876 a constitutional convention was held at Concord' 
As a result of its* deliberations, the religious qualification of 
office-holders was removed; biennial elections were decided 
upon ; but the work was so poorly done that another convention 
was soon demanded. 

In 1876, December 8, there died in Dover Daniel M. Chri.stie, 
who for half a century was one of the leaders of the New 
Hampshire bar. Daniel Miltimore Christie was of Scotch- 
Irish stock. He was born in Antrim, October 15, 1790; o-rad- 
uated at Dartmouth College, in 18 15, at the head of his class ; 
read law in Peterborough ; and settled at first in York, Maine. 
In 1823 he moved to Dover. He was first elected to the leg- 
islature in 1826 and was re-elected eleven times. Daniel M. 
Christie, LL.D., was a man of extraordinary endowments, un. 
remitting in his labors and his diligence. He became a great 
man, not at a bound, but slowly and steadily. In his prime he 
was the contemporary and peer of Daniel Webster, Jeremiah 
Smith, Jeremiah Mason, George Sullivan, and Ichabod Bartlett. 

He married Mrs. Dorothy Dix Woodman, daughter of John 
Wheeler, Esq., and widow of Hon. Charles Woodman. In his 
home life he was a model father and husband, kind, considerate, 
and indulgent. They were the parents of six daughters. 

At the spring election in 1877 the Republican party elected 
its candidate, Benjamin F. Prescott, of Epping. His Demo- 
cratic competitor was Hon. Daniel Marcy, of Portsmouth. 

Mr. Prescott, a descendanj of Captain Jonathan Prescott. who fought with 
Pepperrell at the siege of Louisburg, was born in Epping, February 26, :Si;i; 
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1856, was admitted to the bar in 1859, was 
associate editor with Amos Hadleyon the Independent Democrat WW 1S66. In 
1872 he was elected secretary of state, and was re-elected in 187,3, 'S75, and 
1876. To him, while secretary of state and governor, and since, is chiefly 
due the unequalled collection of historic portraits at the State House, Dart- 
mouth College, and at Phillips Exeter Academy. As early as 1876 he was 
made a member of the Royal Historical Society of London. 

Under Governor Prescott's administration the laws of the 
State were revised, the new prison constructed, the militia reor- 



668 HISTORV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1877 

ganized, and judicial apjjointmeiits made. The prison was built 
within the appropriation. In all his official acts, Governor I'res- 
cott was animated by a purpose single to the welfare of the 
State, and upon his retirement to private life, at the end of his 
term, he took with him the respect of its people, irrespective of 
party or sect. 

While governor he wa.s frequently called upon to address pub- 
lic and private gatherings, and he seldom failed to respond. His 
first address was at Epping, on the occasion of a public recep- 
tion given him by the citizens of the town, without distinction 
of party, on the day after his inauguration. He was present at 
the inauguration of Rev. Samuel C. Bartlett, D.D., LL.D., as 
president of Dartmouth College, and gave an address of welcome 
to that eminent scholar. The governor visited, with a large de- 
tachment of the State militia and distinguished citizens of the 
State, the centennial celebration of the battle of Bennington, 
Vt., and spoke there for the State at the banquet on that mem- 
orable occasion. He was also at State and town fairs and meet- 
ings of various kinds. 

In 1877 James F. Briggs, of Manchester, was elected a mem- 
ber of Congress, and was re-elected in 1879 and in 1881. 

James F. Briggs, son of John and Nancy (Franklin) Briggs, 
was born at Bury, Lancashire, England, October 23, 1827, and 
in infancy was brought by his parents to the United States. In 
1836 the family settled in Ashland, where the father commenced 
the manufacture of woollen cloth. Here the son served his ap- 
prenticeship, educated himself, studied law, and was admitted to 
the bar in 185 1. He at finst settled at Hillsborough Bridge, 
representing the town in 1856, 1857, and 1858. During the Re- 
bellion he served as quartermaster of the Eleventh. In 1871 he 
established himself at Manchester, where he was appointed city 
solicitor. He was soon elected to the State Senate, and was a 
member of the constitutional convention. During his term in 
Congress he was a faithful, hard-working member, wielding a 
great influence, and commanding the confidence of his associ- 
ates. A ready writer and an able speaker, he fairly won his 
success at the bar and his influence in lesfislativC assemblies. 




0~l ^\] U LLLlu 



1877] 



SINCE THE REBELLION. 



669 



From A>mwo- the Clouds, a newspaper published on the 
summit of Mount Washington, and established in 1876 the 
following summary of leading events in White Mountain history 
has been selected. 

The Indian name of the White Mountains was Waumbek 
Methna ; of Mount Washington, Agiochook. The first ascent 




ECHO LAKE, FRAHCONIA MOTC 



of Mount Washington was by Darby Field. The first account 
of the mountains was published in John Josselyn's "New 
England Rarities Discovered," 1672. Conway was settled in 
1764. The White Mountain Notch was discovered by Nash 
and Sawyer, 1771. Franconia was settled in 1774; Bartlett 
about 1777: and Jackson (formerly Adams), about 1778. 
Mount Washington was named in 1784. Bethlehem was settled 
in 1790. The first settlement at site of P'abyan House was by^ 



670 



JIISTOKV OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



[1877 



Captain Eleazer Rosebiook in 1792. Abel Crawford, the "Patri- 
arch of the Mountains," Roscbrook's son-in-law, settled near 
Bemis Station, about 1793. The first house for visitors was 
built by Capt. Rosebrook in 1803. Ethan Allen Crawford, 
Abel's son, who was born at Guildhall, Vt., 1792, and died at 
Fabyan's, 1848, took Rosebrook's house, in 1817. He opened 
the first foot-path to the summit of Mount Washington in 18 19, 
and built a stone cabin near the Summit soon afterwards. 







CASTELLATED RIDGE OF MOUNT JEFFERSON. 

A. N. Brackett, J. W. Weeks, and five others, from Lancaster, 
went over the entire White Mountain range, with E. A. Craw- 
ford as guide, in July, 1820, and named Mounts Madison, 
Adams, Jefferson, Monroe, Franklin, and Pleasant. They were 
the first to spend the night on Mount Washington. The first 
ladies to ascend Mount Washington were three Misses Austens 
of Portsmouth. 

The family of James Willcy, jr., was destroyed by a land- 
slide in White Mountain Notch, August 28, 1826. The first 
bridle-path to the summit was opened in 1840, by Thomas J. 



1878] SINCE THE REBELLION. (5-j 

Crawford, brother of Kthan. His father, Abel Crawford, tlien 
seventy-five years old, rode the first horse that cHmbcd the 
mountain. 

The old Summit Ifouse was built by J. S. Hall and L. M 
Rosebrook, in 1852. The old Tip-top House was built by Sam- 
uel F. Spaulding & Co., in 1853. 

The carriage road was begun in 1855, and finished in 1861 ; 
the engineers were D. O. Macomber and C. H. V. Cavis. The 
railway was projected by Sylvester Marsh, of Littleton ; it was 
chartered in 1858 ; work was begun in 1866 ; the road was opened 
to the public when built to Jacob's Ladder, August 24, 1868 ; and 
finished in July, 1869. The depot was built at Summit in fall 
of 1870; it was blown down iii spring of 1876. The Summit 
House was built by John E. Lyon and Walter Aiken in 1872. 
The signal station was built in 1874. The Glen stage ofifice was 
built in 1878. The Tower was built in 1880. The first winter 
ascent of mountain was made by the sheriff of Coos county and 
B. F. Osgood of the Glen House, December 7, 1858. The first 
party spent a night on the mountain in winter, February 19, 
1862. The signal station was established in 1870. Private 
William Stevens died at the station, February 26, 1872. 

Frederick Strickland, an Englishman, perished in the Am- 
monoosuc Ravine, October, 185 1. Miss Lizzie Bourne, of Ken- 
nebunk, Me., perished on the Glen bridle-path, near the Sum- 
mit, on the night of September 14, 1855. Mr. B. L. Ball, of 
]5oston, was lost on Mount Washington, in October, 1855, in a 
snowstorm, but was rescued after two days' and nights' expo- 
sure without food or sleep. Benjamin Chandler, of Delaware, 
perished near Chandler's Peak, August 7, 1856, in a storm, and 
his remains were not discovered for nearly a year. Harry W. 
Hunter, of Pittsburg, Pa., perished on the Crawford bridle-path, 
September 3, 1874, a mile from the Summit. The remains 
were discovered July 14, 1880. 

In the election of 1878 Governor Prcscott was the successful 
candidate against Hon. Frank A. McKean, of Nashua. 

The amended constitution was to go into effect in June, 1879, 
the election of governor and members of the legislature taking 
place in November instead of March as formerly. 



6/2 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1S78 

At the convention in September, 1878, which was the first to 
select candidates for a biennial term, Natt Head was nominated 
upon the first ballot by a decided majority. By reason of the 
third party or " Greenback " movement, it was not expected by 
his most sanguine supporters that he would be elected on the 
popular vote, yet the result was that he was chosen over all bv 
a large majority. 

Governor Natt Head was descended from Welsh and Scotch ancestrv, and 
was born in Ilooksett, May 20, 1S28. His great-grandfather, Colonel James 
Head, had command of a garrison in " Suncook" during the French war and 
was killed at the battle of Bennington. Colonel Head had three sons, of 
whom Nathaniel, born in Bradford, in 1754. was the grandfather of Governor 
Natt Head. When a young man the son paid his addresses to Miss Anna 
Knox, daughter of Timothy Knox, of Pembroke. She was of Scotch-Irish 
blood, and one day, as the father and son were plowing, the former remarked, 
" Nathaniel, do you intend to marry that Irish girl.'" The son respectfullv 
but emphatically answered in the affirmative ; whereupon the father added, 
"Then, understand, you can never share in my property." Young Nathan- 
iel's answer was ; "Very well; I will take care of myself." And in accordance 
with his declaration he dropped the goad-stick, and in a few hours left the 
paternal roof to take up a farm in the wilderness and build a home. The 
father made good his threat, and at his death Nathaniel received one dollar 
and his brothers the remainder of the property. Nathaniel located in that 
portion of Chester now Hooksett, and, building a log-house, carried to it Anna 
Knox, his wife. The site o£ the primitive cabin was the identical spot 
where Governor Head's residence now stands. 

The appointment which brought Governor Natt Head most conspicuously 
before the public was that of adjutant, inspector, and quartermaster-general 
of the State, which he received from Governor Gilmore, in March, 1S64. He 
was called to that office at a period when the Republic was in one of the most 
serious crises of the great civil war, and when the loyal people of New 
Hampshire were putting forth every effort to enlist the men called for under 
the president's proclamation of the preceding month. 

The reports issued during General Head's administration not only give the 
name and history of every oflicerand soldier who went into the service from 
the State, but they embrace biographical sketches of all the field officers who 
fell in battle or who died of disease during the war, together with a brief 
history of all the organizations, giving their principal movements from their 
departure to their return home. These books also include the military his- 
tory of New Hampshire from 1623 to 1S61, the data for which were gathered 
with great perseverance and under many discouragements from various 
sources in this and other States, and from the rolls in the War Department at 
Washington, thus making the united reports a work of inestimable value to 
the present and coming generations, and, at the same time, constituting an 



'•"^79] SINCK TUK KKBEI.I.ION. /->--. 

invaluable contribution to the martial history of the nation. He was the 
lirst adjutant-general in our country who conceived the idea of having "hand- 
somely engraved on steel, with attractive and appropriate symbols, and o( a 
size adapted to framing, a memorial certificate to be presented to all 'survivint; 
officers and soldiers from the State, and to the widows or nearest relatives of 
those who gave their lives in the great struggle for the preservation of the 
Republic. 

His gubernatorial administration wa.s tliroughout emincntlv 
successftil, creditable alike to his own ability and fidelity and to 
the fair fame of the State which he so honorably scrveil. 

During his term of office there arose many important measures 
and questions whose consideration demanded practical good 
sense, wisdom, and impartial judgment. The well-known Ikiz- 
zell murder case, which finally became one of the most celebrated 
in the criminal records of the world, had been twice tried wiicn 
Governor Head entered the executive chair. Buzzell was then 
awaiting execution, and thousands had petitioned for a commu- 
tation of his sentence. His Excellency and his official advisers 
gave a long and patient hearing to counsel for the State and for 
the defence, and to all others who desired to be heard, and then, 
after mature deliberation, refused the prayer on the ground that 
no new evidence had been presented that would warrant the 
changing of the decision of the court. Buzzell suffered the ex- 
treme penalty of the law, and the conclusion in his case was sus- 
tained by legal and public opinion. The project of a new State 
Prison, which had been successfully inaugurated under his prede- 
cessor, was carried forward to its completion. The commissioners 
selected to superintend the work consulted with the governor at 
every step, and without even a whisper of extravagance or job- 
bery the building was finished, dedicated, and opened for use, 
and stands to-day, in thoroughness of structure and excellence of 
arrangement, second to no other penitentiary in the country. 
There came before Governor Head many judicial and other ap- 
pointments, .all of which were made with the single aim of serv- 
ing the highest interest of the State. His administration took 
its rank in history as one of the purest, wisest, and best that 
New Hampshire has ever had. 

The " Holderness School for Boys " was opened in 1879 as a 



674 HISTOKV OF \E\V ]1 A MP.SII I KE. [ I 8So 

diocesan school in tlie old mansion of the Livermores, and the 
venerable church served as its chapel until the erection of a beau- 
tiful Gothic chapel was demanded. Destroyed by fire in March, 
1882, the historic homestead has given place to new buildings 
specially adapted to the school work. Rev. Frank C. Coolbaugh 
is the rector of the school, and also of Trinity church in the 
town of Holderness. 

St. Man's school for girls, in Concord, was opened seven j-ears later, or in 
18S6, in the mansion occupied by Hall Burgin, Governor Gilmore, and Judge 
Asa Fowler. The Chase Home for Children, an orphanage under episcopal 
patronage, was opened in Portsmouth in 1879. 

In 1880 Aretas Blood, of Manchester, was chairman of the 
electors who cast the vote of New Hampshire for James A. 
Garfield for president of the United States. 

Aretas Blood, a descendant of James Blood, an early settler of 
Concord, Mass., was born October 8, 1816, in Weathersfield, 
Vt. Having learned the trade of a blacksmith and machinist, 
Mr. Blood, after having visited the West, settled in Man- 
chester in 1853, and established the next year the Manchester 
Locomotive Works. In 1857 he became the agent and manager 
of the company. Here his mechanical skill, executive ability, 
and judgment in financial affairs have had full scope for their 
exercise ; and he has built up one of the largest manufacturing- 
establishments in the State. The works can turn out one hundred 
and fifty locomotives and fifty steam fire engines every year, and 
give employment to seven hundred skilled workmen. Over 
thirteen hundred of these locomotives are now in use. Mr. 
Blood's financial ability has been called into the service of 
several manufacturing enterprises and banks. 

Mr. Blood has been very successful in business ; and his 
success in life may be attributed to his stubborn perseverance, 
as well as his good judgment and remarkable common sense. 

Mr. Blood was married September 4, 1845, to Lavina K. Kendall. His 
daughter Nora married Frank P. Carpenter; his daughter Emma married 
ih: L. M. French. 

Hon. Charles H. Bell, of Exeter, the Republican candidate 
for governor, elected in the fall of 1S80, was inaugurated ir. 




/"i^UZi/ /JU^^' 



5I] 



SINCE TIIK I<Kni:r.LIOX. 



67s 



June, 1^81. As was expected at the time of his election the 
administration of Governor Bell was marked by the dignity 
and high character of tlie chief magistrate. 

Governor Charles II. Bell, son of Governor John and Pcrsis 
(Thorn) Bell, and nephew of Governor Samuel Bell, was born in 
Nov., 1823, in Chester, was educated at Pembroke and Phillips 
Exeter Academies, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1S44, read 




CHARLES H. BELL 



law with Bell and Tuck in Exeter, and subsequently continued 
with his cousin Hon. Samuel Dana Bell, one of the most emi- 
nent lawyers in the State, and who for five years held the office 
of chief justice of New Hampshire. On his admittance to the 
bar, the young lawyer commenced to practice in his native town, 
and later removed to Great Falls, and finally settled in Exeter. 
He entered actively into practice, and speedily manifested abil- 
ities of a high order and unusual professional attainments, which 
at once raised him to prominence. In 1856 he was appointed 
solicitor of Rockingham county, and filled the office for ten 
years. He was a representative in 1858, and chairman of the 
judiciary committee. He was re-elected in 1859 and i860, being 
elected speaker the last year. He developed rare qualities as a 



6/6 inSTOKY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [ 1 88 I 

presiding officer. With an extended knowledge of parliamentary 
law, coupled with his native dignity and firmness, he wielded 
the gavel with such ability and judicial fairness as to make him 
one of the most popular of speakers. 

In 1863 and 1864 Mr. Bell was elected to the State Senate, and during the 
latter jear served as president of that body. In 1S72 and 1S73 he was again 
chosen to the House, bringing with him a ripeness and experience in legisla- 
tive duties that gave to him the leadership of his party, and made him one 
of its most influential members. In 1S79 Mr. Bell was appointed United 
States Senator, for the special session of that year, by Governor Prescott, to 
take the place of Bainbridge Wadleigh, whose term of office had expired. 

At the commencement at Dartmouth College in June, 1881, the degree of 
LL. D. was conferred upon him. 

The Democratic candidate for governor in the fall election of 
1880 was Hon. Frank Jones, of Portsmouth. Mr. Jones was 
born in Harrington, September 15, 1832. He was a son of 
Thomas and Mary (Priest) Jones, and a grandson of Pelatiah 
Jones, a successful shipmaster of Portsmouth. Mr. Jones 
started in business in Portsmouth, and soon gained a reputa- 
tion for business sagacity and executive ability. Financially he 
became the most successful man in New Hampshire. 

' Frank Jones is a familiar name with the people of New Hampshire, anct 
well known beyond its borders. It is synonymous with pluck, energy, and 
success. He has been four times the Democratic candidate for mayor of 
Portsmouth, and twice elected to that office — in iS6S and 1S69— although the 
Republican party was in a majority in the city at the time. He was also, for 
two years, the candidate of his party for State senator, and, though failing of 
an election, very nearly overcame the decided Republican majority in the dis- 
trict. In 1S75 he was nominated with great unanimity by the Democratic 
convention at Newmarket for representative in Congress for the First Con- 
gressional District, and in theelection defeated the Republican nominee, Col. 
Charles S. Whitehouse, of Rochester, although at the previous election the 
Republicans elected their candidate. Renominated for the next Congress, in 
1S77, the Republicans made a determined effort to secure his defeat, selecting 
as their candidate Gen. Gilman Marston, of Exeter, who had won distinction 
in military as well as civil life, and had been three times elected to the same 
office in past years ; yet so great was Mr. Jones' popularity and so well satis- 
fied were the people with his services for the previous term, that his oppo- 
nents were unable to compass his defeat, and he was returned bv a plurality 
of forty votes over the formidable candidate who had been pitted against him. 
At the close of his second term in Congress, although strongly importuned to 
■ H. H. Metcalf. 





722?;?^ 



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(Q. ek/. 



/y^ a^-7^ 



l88l] SINCE THK REBELLION. 



(^17 



be again a candidate, lie positively refused. lie was actively interested in the 
railroad war ol' 1SS7. Mr. Jones has acquired a very large fortune, which he 
uses in a public-spirited way. He built the Rockingham house, the pride of 
Portsmouth upon the site of the old I.augdon house, the home of Woodbury 
Langdon, a brother of John Langdon,and one of the early judges of the Su- 
preme Court. The original house was burned in the great fire which devas- 
tated Portsmouth in 17S1, but was rebuilt by Judge Langdon five vears later. 
In 1830 the place was purchased by a company and transformed into a hotel. 
Coming into the possession of Mr. Jones it was substantially rebuilt in 1870, 
and again in 1SS4. "The Wentworth" at Newcastle, the island town in 
Portsmouth harbor, was completed by Mr. Jones in 1879-S0. 

One of the leading members of the State Senate in 1881 was 
Hon. V. C. Gilman, of Nashua. 

Virgil Chase Gilman, a member of the historical Gilman fam- 
ily, a descendant of Moses Gilman, and a son of Emerson and 
Delia (Way) Gilman, was born in Unity, May 5, 1827. He was 
educated at the public schools of Lowell, Mass., and settled in 
Nashua in 1843. -^t the age of twenty-four year.s he embarked 
in the manufacture of card-board and glazed paper, then an in- 
fant enterprise in this country, and continued in the business 
for over twenty years. His health required out-of-door exercise 
after long application to office work ; and he devoted his ener- 
gies to cultivating a farm, and breeding Jersey cattle, driving 
horses, and Plymouth Rock fowls. In 1876 he accepted the 
office of treasurer of the Nashua Savings Bank, which cares for 
deposits of over three million dollars, and is a director in the 
Nashua Iron and Steel Company, the Underbill Edge Tool 
Company, the Amesbury A.xle Company, and the Indian Head 
National Bank. Mr. Gilman has served the city of Nashua in 
every office from ward clerk to mayor, as assessor, member of 
the board of education, and trustee, secretary, and treasiner of 
the public library. In the Senate he served as chairman of 
the judiciary committee, where his business-like and methodical 
habits were of great advantage to, and fully appreciated by, the 
Senate and by the public. Here his sound judgment and ster- 
ling common sense had ample opportunities for exercise. An 
active and influential member of the Congregational church, 
public-spirited in forwarding every good work, his energy, integ- 
rity, and discretion are widely recognized. In 1850 he married 



6/8 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1882 

Sarali Louise, daughter of Gideon Newcomb, Esq., of Ro.xbury. 
Of their two children, one died in infancy, and the other, Har- 
riet Louise Oilman, married Charles W. Hoitt, a lawyer of 
Nashua. 

At the death of Hon. Evarts W. Earr, in November, iS8o, 
Mr. Ossian Ray, of Lancaster, was elected to fill out the unex- 
pired term. He was twice re-elected and served until March 4, 
1885. 

Ossian Ray was born December 13, 1S35, in Hinesburg, Vt., 
and traces his descent from Revolutionary patriots. In 1854 
he settled in Lancaster, and at the age of twenty-one was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and formed a partnership with Hon. Jacob 
Benton. He has since been associated with Hon. William S. 
Ladd, Hon. Irving W. Drew, Hon. Chester B. Jordon, and 
Philip Carpenter. Mr. Ray represented Lancaster in 1868 and 
1869, and was. solicitor of Coos county from 1862 to 1872. He 
was appointed United States attorney for the district of New 
Hampshire by President Hayes. He was an active and influen- 
tial member of Congress, and ranks very high in the legal pro- 
fession. 

Samuel \V. Hale, of Keene, was elected governor in the fall 
of 1882, defeating M. V. B. Edgerley, of Manchester, the Dem- 
ocratic candidate, and was inaugurated in June, 1883. 

Governor Hale's administration of the affairs of the common- 
wealth was characterized by dignity, moderation, and prudence ; 
and he retired from his high office, at the close of his term, with 
the respect of political friend and foe. 

Governor Hale was born in Fitchburg, Mass., in 1823, and in 1845 set- 
tled in Dublin, removing to Keene in 1859, when he became extensively in- 
terested in manufacturing enterprises, railroads, and large financial transac- 
tions. 

He was elected a member of the State legislature in 1S66, and was re-elected 
the next year. In 1S69 he was chosen a member of the governor's Council, 
to which position he was re-elected in 1S70. 

Charles H. Bartlett, of Manchester, was chosen president of 
the State Senate in 1883. Charles Henry Bartlett, son of 
John and Jane (Sanborn) Bartlett, and a descendant of Richard 
Bartlett (of Newbury, Mass., in 1635), ^^'^^ born in Sunapee, 




Tri'^^?^ 



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^ 



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a^jo^^^^.^ n^K 06^ z'^. 




WhO^Jtr. 



5884] SINXE THE KEllKLLION. 



679 



October 15, 1833. He received an academic educalion ; studied 
law ; was admitted to the bar, in 1S58; settled in Wentworth. 
and in 1863 moved to Manchester. From 1867 to his election 
to the Senate, be was clerk of the United States District Court. 
He was mayor of Manchester in 1872. Mr. Bartlctt brou'^ht 
to his chosen profession of the law a keen, well-balanced mind, 
with faculties always at command. He was a member of the 
constitutional convention in 1876, and received the degree of 
A. M. from Dartmouth College in 1881, 

The Republican majority of 1883 were unable to elect a 
United States senator until after a long contest. The candi- 
dates offered to the suffrages of the legislature included the 
leading men of the party. At length the legislature elected 
Austin F. Pike, of Franklin. He died during his term of office 
in 1884. 

In the fall election of 1884, Dr. Jacob H. Gallinger, of Con- 
cord, was elected to represent the Second Congressional District, 
and was re-elected in 1886. Dr. Gallinger was born in Cornwall, 
Ontario, March 28, 1837. At the age of twelve years he entered 
a printing office, and at the age of eighteen he commenced the 
study of medicine in Cincinnati. In i860 he settled in Keene, 
and two years later in Concord. He represented Concord in 
the legislature in 1872 and 1873 ; was a member of the consti- 
tutional convention in 1876; State senator in 1878 and 1879 ; 
president of the Senate during his last term ; and chairman of 
the Republican State Committee since 1882. Dr. Gallinger is 
one of the most popular and successful campaign orators in the 
State. As a speaker he is rapid, direct, and practical, has an ex- 
cellent voice, and always commands the close attention of his 
audience. He is also a facile and effective writer, and has fre- 
quently been called upon for public addresses on topics aside 
from politics. As an organizer he is noted for his executive 
ability. As a physician he has a large practice. 

Hon. Moody Currier, of Manchester, was inaugurated gov- 
ernor in June, 1885, having been elected the preceding fall. 

Governor Currier was born in Boscawen in April, 1S06. He is the arciiitect 
of his own fortunes. He was brought upon a farm in Bow, but early evinced 



680 mSTOKY OK NKW HAMPSHIRE. ['§85 

an insatiable desire for informatitiii. He fitted for college, and graduated at 
Uartmouth in 1S34, read law with Hon. Daniel Clark, and engaged in literary 
pursuits. He settled in Manchester in 1S41, and became cashier of the Amos- 
keag Bank in 1S4S at its organization. Me is still connected with the insti- 
tution as well as other large financial interests. He was clerk of the Senate in 
1S43 and 1S44, senator in 1856, president of the Senate in 1S57, councillor in 
1S60 and 1S61, chairman of the war committee of the Council during the first 
fifteen months of the Rebellion. In that position he exhibited great abili;*' 
and energy, and rendered efficient seryice to the State and the nation. He 
entered with his whole soul into the business of raising and equipping troops, 
and won great praise from all parties for his efforts in this direction. The 
first eight regiments of infantry, a battery, four companies of cavalry, and 
three companies of sharpshooters \yere organized, equipped and sent to the 
front with the utmost despatch while Mr. Currier was at the head of the 
war committee. In compliment to him, the rendezvous of the Eighth regi- 
ment at Manchester was named " Camp Currier." 

Gcvernor Currier has an ardent temperament and versatile 
talent. His practical judgment is shown in the success of the 
banking institutions which he has managed for many years, and 
also in the success of the various other enterprises with which 
he has been connected in an official capacity. He is method- 
ical and cautious in his habits, and has always sustained 
the reputation of being honorable and upright in all his business 
relations. He maintains a high rank as a scholar, and, unlike 
many other men who have enjoyed the advantages of a liberal 
education, he has throughout his whole life taken a strong inte- 
rest in the study of literature, science, and philosophy. He 
retains a taste for the ancient classics and is quite familiar with 
fVench, German, and other modern languages. He has written 
many pieces of poetry, creditable in taste and composition. By 
industry and prudence he has acquired a handsome fortune, and 
his residence is a model of taste. He is liberal in his gifts to 
worthy objects and especially to those which relate to intellectual 
culture. 

His administration of the affairs of the State was marked by 
the prudence, sagacity, and caution so characteristic of him all 
his life ; and he retired from office at the close of his term with 
the respect of all. 

At the fall election in November, iS86, Rev. Luther F. Mc- 
Kinney, of Manchester, the Democratic candidate for Congress- 



188/] siNci: Tiiii: rebellion. 68i 

man in the First District, was elected. Dr. Jacol) H. Gailin"-er 
was re-elected in the Second District. 

In the fall of 1886 Charles H. Sawyer, of Dover, was the 
Republican candidate for governor. The Democrats voted for 
Colonel Thomas Cogswell, of Gilmanton ; the Prohibitionists 
voted for Col. Joseph Wentworth, of Concord. His Excellency 
Governor Sawyer was elected by the legislature, and inaugurated 
in June, 1887. ^ He does not owe the estimation in which he is 
held to the doings of his ancestors. He has earned his own po- 
sition in the world. Yet he cannot fail to feel an honorable 
pride in the fact that he is sprung from a line of energetic and in- 
genious workers, who made themselves useful and respected in 
their generations. 

Charles H. Sawyer is a lineal descendant of John Sawyer, a 
farmer of Lincolnshire in England, one of whose sons, Thomas, 
emigrated to this country about the year 1636. 

Phineas, the great-great-grandson of Thomas, and the grand- 
father of Charles H. Sawyer, bought in Marlborough, Mass., a 
century later, a water privilege and mills, to which he afterwards 
added a cotton factory ; a difficult and hazardous undertaking at 
that early day. 

Jonathan Sawyer, the youngest of his twelve children, 
was born at Marlborough, Massachusetts, m 18 17. He went 
with his mother and other members of the family, when 
he was twelve years old, to Lowell, where for the next few 
years he attended school. He was a member of the first class 
that entered the high school of that city, having among his 
mates Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, Gov. E. A. Straw, and G. V. 
Fox, assistant secretary of the navy during the civil war. On 
account of a severe sickness, young Sawyer at sixteen years of 
age left school, and while recruiting his health made a visit to 
his brother, Alfred Ira Sawyer, who, after some experience as a 
dyer at Amesbury and Great Falls, had come in 1824 to Dover, 
where he was operating a grist-mill, a custom carding and 
cloth-dressing mill, converting this last into a flannel-mill. 
Jonathan remained in Dover two years, going to school and 

' Gov. C. H. Bell. 



682 HISTORY' OF NEW llAMPSiMRE [iSS/ 

working for his lirothcr. In the fall of 1S35 he returned to 
Lowell. His mother, for the purpose of conferring upon her 
son a more complete education, sent him to the great Methodist 
school at Wilbraham, which at that time was a most flourishing 
preparatory school for the Wesleyan University at Middletown, 
Conn. Here he remained two terms, when, at nineteen years of 
age, returning to Lowell, he went into a woollen establishment as 
a dyer. Afterwards he went into this business on his own ac- 
count, and continued in it until 1839.^ 

Forty years ago Dover received Jonathan Sawyer, then a 
young man full of hope and ambition, honesty and executive 
ability, whose career has done so much to advance the prosper- 
ity of his adopted home. He found on Bellamy river a small 
water-power, about which to-day is built one of the largest and 
most prosperous manufacturing establishments within New 
l£ngland, the products of which are welcomed in a million 
American homes. He gathered about him a score of working 
people at first, whose pay was small in those early days of free 
trade. But when our government threw its protecting arm and 
fostering care about the infant industries of the country, the es- 
tablishment prospered and grew. Willing hands found ready 
work. The fame of the goods became widespread ; new mills 
were built ; new machinery was introduced ; new operatives 
were employed. The profits of the business were embarked in 
it enlargement, until five hundred busy workmen found employ- 
ment. While their number was increasing the pay had doubled. 
He is still a principal and active proprietor of the Sawyer Wool- 
len Mills, in the enjoyment of health, competence, and the res- 
pect won by a life of honorable exertion and spotless integrity. 

Charles H. Sawyer, the eldest son of Jonathan and Martha 
(Perkins) Sawyer, was born in Watertown, N. Y., March 30, 
1840. At the age of ten he was brought by his father to Dover, 
and acquired the basis of his education in the excellent public 
schools of that place. When he became seventeen, his father, 
who designed him for the hereditary calling of manufacturing, 
placed him in the flannel-mill as an ordinary hand, to enable him 

' Rev. Dr. George B Spalding. 



I 



^ 



^ -c 




1887] SINCE THE KEHELLIOX. 685 

to form a practical acquaintance witii tlic various and conii)li- 
cated processes required to transform tlie rough fleece into the 
finished fabric. Here he supplemented his book education by the 
education of work, observation, and experience. Step by step he 
rose to the higher grades of employment, mastering every de- 
tail of the business as he went, until at the age of twenty-si.\ he 
was appointed superintendent of the establishment. He soon be- 
came interested in large financial operations. Though so diligent 
a man of affairs. Governor Sawyer finds the time for mental 
cultivation. His library contains the best books of solid value, 
and he has made himself acquainted with their contents. On 
all subjects of public interest and practical importance he keeps 
thoroughly informed, and has well-considered opinions. Nat- 
urally somewhat reticent, he never obtrudes his views ; but 
when they are sought for, they are found to go straight to the 
mark, and to have behind them all the force of rare sagacity and 
careful thought. He makes no pretentions to oratory, yet ora- 
tors might well envy the impression which his plain, convincing 
statements command. In the recent panic caused by the with- 
drawal from the State of foreign insurance companies, it was 
mainly Colonel Sawyer's calm and clear demonstration of the 
feasibility of a manufacturers' mutual system of home insurance 
that quieted the needless feelings of alarm. ' 

It has been truly remarked of Governor Sawyer that "Nature 
made him on a large scale." His great interests he wields easily, 
and carries his broad responsibilities without fatigue. His re- 
markable executive ability never seems to be taxed to its full 
capacity ; there is always an appearance of reserve strength be- 
yond. He has a large way of estimating men and things. No 
petty prejudices obscure the clearness of his vision or weaken 
the soundness of his judgment. He has the courage of his 
convictions, and does not shrink from telling an unpalatable 
truth when necessary ; but he has the rare faculty of giving no 
needless offence. In the wide round of his occupations he 
must needs have caused some disappointments ; but his char- 
acter for justice and fair dealing is so univensally understood 
that censure finds no vulnerable spot to fasten on. Modest and 



684 HISTORY OF NEW IIAJIPSHIRE. [1S87 

unassuming in a remarkable degree, the public positions he has 
held have come to him through no longing or efforts of his own ; 
in his case it is emphatically true that " the office has always 
sought the man." ^ 

Governor Sawyer is a member of the Congregational society 
in Dover, and a liberal contributor to its support, as well as to 
every worthy object of charity and scheme of benevolence that 
is brought to his notice from whatever quarter. Though his 
manner is reserved, his heart is warm, and his sympathies are 
quick and wide ; and his generosity and helpfulness in a good 
cause are not limited by place or creed or nationality. Gover- 
nor Sawyer has too great an interest in public affairs to be 
without decided political convictions. He cast his earliest vote 
for Abraham Lincoln, and has ever since been unswerving in his 
allegiance to the Republican party. His experience in the ser- 
vice of the public has not been inconsiderable. After having 
served with credit in both branches of the city council of 
Dover, he was chosen a representative in the State legislature 
in the years i869and 1870, and again in 1876 and 1877. His 
ability and standing in that body are indicated by the fact of his 
assignment to the important committees on the judiciary, rail- 
roads, manufactures, and national affairs. His last political 
service before election was that of delegate at large to the Na- 
tional Republican Convention at Chicago, in 1884.^ 

The Democratic candidate for governor in 18S6, Colonel 
Thomas Cogswell, of Gilmanton, was a veteran of the Union 
army, a lawyer and farmer, and popular with his party. 

Colonel' Joseph Went worth, of Concord, the candidate of the 
Prohibition party for the office of governor, again called into 
prominence a member of the historical Wentworth family, who 
for so many years influenced the destinies of Province and State. 
He traces his descent from Elder William Wentworth, the pro. 
genitor of the New England branch of the family, through 
Ezekiel, of Dover, Benjamin, of Dover, Colonel John Wentworth, 
a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Hon. John Wentworth, a 
member of the Continental Congress, and Hon. Paul Went- 

■ Ex-Gov. C. H. Bell. 







T^'^/lJzy y/^^^^i^u^^y^/ 




^^^7] SINCE THK REI'.KI.I.ION. 



-.85 



worth, a leading citizen of Sandwich in the early hall of the 
present century. In him is united the blood of the Weiit- 
worths, the Gilmans, the Frosts, the Cogswells, and the Lcigli- 
lons. His brother, Hon. John Wentworth, of Chicago, has 
been prominently before the people of Illinois since the scf'r- 
ment of that western metropolis. 

Colonel Joseph Wentworth, born in Sandwich, Jaiuian ^^, ,,,.j, ,a- 
tended school at the New Hampton, Hopkinton, and Berwick Academies, 
and settled in his native town, where for thirty years he kept a general counlrv 
store, looking after his farm and banking interests. 

He was aide to Covernor Page, the first register of deeds for Carroll county, 
sheriff for five years, representative to the legislature in IS^4 45, and a mem- 
ber of the constitutional convention in 1850, postmaster fifteen years, also 
president and chief owner of Carroll County National Bank. In 1870 he 
moved to Concord and was chosen assessor of ward six, member of the con- 
stitutional convention in 1S76, and a representative to the legislature in 1S78. 
Mr. Wentworth was married in 1S45 t" Sarah Payson Jones, of Brookline, 
Mass., and is the father of six children, two sons and tour daughters, all now 
living. His sons, Paul and Moses, entered Harvard College the same day, 
and graduated the same day, and are both practising law, one in Chicago, and 
the other in Sandwich. 

Mr. Wentworth, since his residence in Concord, has had much influence in 
social and financial circles. He enthusiastically supports those political doc- 
rines which he believes to be right, and was the standard bearer of a parly, 
not so strong in numbers, as they are strong in their attachment to what tbey 
conceive to be their duty. 

One of the earliest and most eloquent advocates of temperance 
■was Jonathan Kittredge, afterwards chief justice of the Court 
of Common Pleas. He was son of Dr. Jonathan and Apphia 
(Woodman) Kittredge, and was born in Canterbury, July 17, 1793. 
He graduated at Dartmouth College in 18 13, read law, and 
settled in Lyme. He afterwards lived at Canaan ; and in 1859 
moved to Concord. He died April 8, 1864. 

Nathaniel White, of Concord, was a leading advocate of 
temperance by precept and example. 

The successful candidate in the race for the United States 
senatorship in June, 1887, was the Hon. William Eaton 
Chandler, of Concord. He was elected June 15, for the term of 
twenty months. In him New Hampshire had another strong 
senator. He entered the Senate chamber with a national repu- 



686 HISTORY OI- NEW llAMi'SllIRE. [l^<^7 

tatioii for sagacity and wisdom already acquired, with the ex- 
perience of his vvhol* youth and manhood devoted to public 
affairs, with the acquaintance and confidence of officials and 
statesmen of every section, with a thorough knowledge of the 
wants and needs of the State of New Hampshire and of the 
citizens of the State of every degree, with a familiarity with the 
intricate mechanism of all the departments of the government, 
with a full and discriminating understanding of law — State, na- 
tional, and international — which would grace the bench of any 
court, and with judgment almost intuitive. 

The following is from Applcton s Cyclopczdia of American Biog- 
raphy : — 

" Chandler, William Eaton, cabinet minister, born in Concord, 
N. H., December 28, 1S35. He studied law in Concord, and at 
the Harvard Law School, where he was graduated in 1855. For 
several years after his admission to the bar in 1856 he practised 
in Concord, and in 1859 was appointed reporter of the New 
Hampshire Supreme Court, and published five volumes of re- 
ports. From the time of his coming of age Mr. Chandler was 
actively connected with the Republican party, serving first as 
secretary, and afterward as chairman of the State committee. In 
1862 he was elected to the New Hampshire House of Repre- 
sentatives, of which he was speaker for two successive terms, in 
1863-64. In November, 1864, he was employed by the nav}' 
department as special counsel to prosecute the Philadelphia 
navy-yard frauds, and on March 9, 1865, was appointed first 
solicitor and judge-advocate-general of that department. On 
17th June, 1865, he became first assistant secretary of the 
Treasury. On 30th November, 1867, he resigned this place and 
resumed law practice. During the next thirteen years, although 
occupying no ofScial position except that of member of the con- 
stitutional convention of New Hampshire in 1876, he continued 
to take an active part in politics. He was a delegate from his 
State to the Republican national convention in 1868, and was 
secretary of the national committee from that time until 1876. 
In that year he advocated the claims of the Hayes electors in 
Florida before the canvassing board of the State, and later was 






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4fm£ mx. 



'88/ 1 SIXCK Tin; KKIJI.l.I.K.N 



G>^7 



one of the counsel to prepare the case siibmiited by the Repub- 
lican side to the electoral commission. Mr. Chandler afterward 
became an especially outspoken opponent of the Southern policy 
of the Hayes administration. In i8So he was a delegate to the 
Republican national convention, and served as a member of the 
committee on credentials, in which place he was active in secur- 
ing the report in favor of district representation, which was 
adopted by the convention. During the subsequent campaign 
he was a member of the national committee. On March 23, 
1881, he was nominated for United States solicitor-general, but 
the Senate refused to confirm, the vote being nearly upon party 
lines. In that year he was again a member of the New Hamp- 
shire legislature. On 7th April, 1882, he was appointed secre- 
tary of the navy. Among the important measures carried out 
by him were the simplification and reduction of the unwieldy 
navy-yard establishment ; the limitation of the number of annual 
appointments to the actual wants of the naval service ; the dis- 
continuance of the extravagant policy of repairing worthless 
vessels ; and the beginning of a modern navy in the construction 
of the four new cruisers recommended by the advisory board. 
The organization and successful voyage of the Greely relief ex- 
pedition in 1884 were largely due to his personal efforts. Mr. 
Chandler was a strenuous advocate of uniting with the navy the 
other nautical branches of the federal administration, including 
the light-house establishment, the coast survey, and the revenue 
marine, upon the principle, first distinctly set forth by him, that 
' the officers and seamen of the navy should be employed to per- 
form all the work of the national government upon or in direct" 
connection with the ocean.' " 

Mr. Chandler has been twice married, — in 1859 to a daughter 
of Governor Joseph A. Gilmore, and in 1874 to a daughter of 
Hon. John P. Hale. 

Since the days of Franklin Pierce and Isaac Hill, the Demo- 
cratic party has had many and able leaders, prominent among 
whom have been Colonel John H. George, Hon. Josiah Minot, 
Hon. Daniel Marcy, Hon. Harry Bingham, Hon. Frank Jones, 
Hon. A. W. Sullowav, Hon. fames A. Weston, Colonel Thomas 




^ 



'^-tyl^-^^^^yT^l 



^?7t,. 



1887J SINXK THK KKliKI.LlON. (iSg 

Cogswell, John M. Hill. Hon. llosca VV, Parker, Hon. Kdimind 
Burke, John H. Pearson, and Charles F. Stone. 

Hon. Harry Bingham, born Mareh 30, 1821, in Concord, Vl., 
of New Hampshire stock ; was brought up on a farm ; educated 
at Lynilon (Vt.) Academy ; graduated at Dartmouth College in 
1843 ; studied law with George C. Cahoon, David Hibbard, and 
Hon. Harry Hibbard ; taught school while a student ; was a<l- 
mitted to the bar at the May term, 1846, and settled in Littleton 
in the practice of the law. In 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, and 
1868 he was elected representative, and every term from 1871 
until 1881, sixteen terms in all, when he was elected to the 
State Senate. He has been frequently the Democratic candidate 
for United States senator, and a member of the State constitu- 
tional convention in 1876. Mr. Bingham is unmarried, attends 
the Episcopal church, has been the standard-bearer of the Dem- 
ocratic party on many a hard-fought field, and is a lawyer, orator, 
and statesman of national reputation.^ 

During the session of the legislature in the summer and fall 
of 1887 the railroad question was very thoroughly discussed, the 
contest arising between the Concord Railroad and the Boston and 
Maine Railroad, for the possession of the roads in the central 
part of the State. 

During the extended hearing before the Railroad Committee, 
certain interesting historical facts were developed. From the 
address of Hon. Samuel C. Eastman, speaker of the House in 
1883, are taken the following : — 

When railroads were first chartered the Democratic party, 
which then controlled the legislature of the State, was exceed- 
ingly jealous of all corporations. It refused for a long time to 
recognize the public necessity there was for the incorporation of 
railroads ; and it was only when they had declared that they 
should be public cflrporations and should be compelled to 
discharge their duties as public corporations, that the legisla- 
ture decided to charter one of them. The Concord Railroad, 
one of the first chartered, it was feared might be a monopoly. 
It was also feared that there mioht be a temptation to abuse 

■ H. H. Metcalf. 



690 



HISTORY OF NEW llAMPSIi I RE. 



[1887 



the power that had been conferred upon it by the State and tc 
place more money in the pockets of the stockholders than 
was right ; therefore two limits were placed upon its powers, for 




the purpose of protecting the public. One of thcn\ was 
vision that at any time, after a certain period, the State 
have the right to take the property of the railroad, payin; 
stockholders the amount of money thev liad invested in 



a pro- 
should 
y to its 
build- 



I887J SINCE THE KEUELLION. 691 

ing the road and an annual dividend of ten per cent, on the 
amount they liad so invested, provided it had not already been 
paid them out of the earnings of the corporation. Tiie other 
restriction was, in case the corporation should, after a period of 
live years, earn more money and pay to its stockholders more 
money than ten per cent, per annum, the legislature should 
have the right to adjust their tariff so as probably for the next 
five years to bring their income down to the limit of ten per 
cent. These two provisions seem very important indications 
both of the intention of the legislature and of the State in 
chartering the railroads, for the provision was incorporated in 
other railroad charters. 

The paternal system of the management of railroad corpora- 
tions was in force in the State down to 1883, when the general 
railroad law was passed. At that time it was proposed to prac- 
tically abandon the paternal system of the State exercising 
jurisdiction over railroads, as a father over the actions of his 
children ; but leave them to the management of their own 
affairs in just such a way as seemed best to them, subject of 
course still to certain general regulations. And if any railroad 
should ask permission to destroy its own existence or transfer 
its powers to another corporation, the legislature no longer 
thought it necessary for them to intervene. The law did not 
accomplish what was expected, for the court decided that the 
legislation was insufficient. 

The Concord Railroad has accumulated a large surplus, not 
necessarily divisible nor due to the State. The management 
have done nothing with their surplus which was not legitimate, 
praiseworthy, and commendable, devoting it to the development 
of their ability the better to discharge their public duties to the 
State. 

For various reasons, which the inquisitive antiquarian may 
discover by consulting the dusty files of contemporary news- 
papers, the so-called Hazen bill, said to have been in the inte- 
rest or to the liking of the Boston and Maine Railroad, having 
passed the legislature, was vetoed by the governor. The Athcr- 
ton bill, which was supported by the friends of the Concord 



692 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1887 

Railroad, was killed in the House of Representatives. The 
supporters of the two bills were not divided according to their 
political creeds. The members of both the House and the 
Senate had the advantage of much interested advice from 
attorneys and local political magnates, assembled at Concord 
from every section of the State. Feeling ran very high, charges 
and counter-charges were made, but after adjournment the dis- 
puted points were referred to the Supreme Court of the State. 

Prominent in railroad circles for many years has been Mr. J. 
W. White, of Nashua. 

Jeremiah Wilson White, son of Jeremiah White of Pittsfield 
(a leading farmer of the town, and one of the founders of the 
Pittsfield Academy), was born in Pittsfield, September i6, 1821 ; 
received his education at the Pittsfield Academy, of which James 
F. Joy was at the time principal ; entered a drug store in Bos- 
ton, and served an apprenticeship ; and in the summer of 1845 
settled in Nashua, and embarked in business for himself. From 
the first his habits of industry, his sound business judgment, 
bis foresight, and his rare knowledge of men, insured success, 
and he soon became one of the solid and substantial business 
men of Nashua. To his efforts are due some of the finest busi- 
ness blocks of that city and the establishment of the Second 
National Bank of Nashua. For many years he has been an ex- 
tensive dealer in coal ; and in 1876 became prominently identi- 
fied with the management of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad. 
By prompt, daring, and aggressive measures Mr. White obtained 
control of the corporation, and secured a recognition of the 
value of the railroad, and caused its stock to be greatly enhanced 
in value. Although a Whig and later a Republican, Mr. White 
has never been active in politics. At the breaking out of the 
Rebellion private business had necessitated his presence in 
Charleston, S. C, where he was granted an interview with his 
friend Captain, afterwards General, J. G. Foster, U. S. A., who 
was second in command at Fort Sumter before the bombard- 
ment. In a subsequent interview with General Scott he ex- 
pressed the opinion that it would require a force of ten thousand 
men to relieve the fortress, while the authorities considered two 
thousand men an ample force. 




(^C^c^^-Ci^^^ ^^ 



C-^^-CtyLt^ {^y/cG^l/^. 



^^^"1 ■'''NCK THE RELEI,LION. rxj3 

' Mr. Wliite is treasurer of the Nashua and Lowell Railn. „l 
treasurer of the Nashua Savings Bank, president of the Sccon.i 
National Bank of Nashua, and president of the White Mountain 
Freezer Company and of the Nashua Electric Light Company 

If any one family may be said to have been identified with 
the inception and growth of the railroad system of the State 
it is the Spalding family of Nashua. Isaac Spalding Dr' 
Edward Spalding, E. H. Spalding, and John A. Spalding are^ 
names well known in railroad circles. 

Dr. Edward Spalding, president of the Peterborough Rail- 
road, and one of the most respected citizens of Nashua, was 
born in Amherst, September 15, 1813. He was the son of 
Dr. Matthias and Rebecca Wentworth (Atherton) Spalding, 
and a descendant of the pioneer Puritan, Edward Spalding of 
Braintree, Mass., in 1632, Edward Johnson of VVoburn, and 
Joshua Atherton of Amherst. He graduated at Dartmouth 
College in 1833, studied medicine with his father, and settled in 
Nashua in 1837. He practised his profession for twenty years, 
until gradually he was obliged to relinquish it to care for impor- 
tant financial trusts confided to him. President of the Nashua 
Savings Bank, of the Indian Head National Bank, and of the 
Pennichuck Water-works, a director of each of the two cotton 
manufacturing companies of Nashua, a trustee of Dartmouth 
College, of the Agricultural College, and of the Nashua Public 
Library, and a patron of literary, historical, and genealogical 
enterprises, overwhelmed with cares and trusts, he has yet fountl 
time to serve his fellow-citizens in important offices. He was 
mayor of Nashua in 1864, and a delegate to the Baltimore con- 
vention the same year, a member of the constitutional conven- 
tion in 1876, and a councillor in 1878 and 1879. 

Dr. Spalding was manied June 23, 1842, to Dora Everett Barrett. Of 
their three children, a son, Edward Atherton Spalding, died in boyhood, and 
two daughters are living. 

After the establishment of railroads and manufacturing enter- 

■ Mr. White was married in 1846 to Caroline G. Merrill, of Pittsfield, who died in iSSo. He inai 
ried, second, Mrs Ann M. Prichnrd, of Bradford, Vl. .A daughter died in infancy. His son Jaine» 
Wilson White died in January, 1S76, aged 26 years. 



1^88] SINCK Till: KEIJI-.l.I.ION. , ^ ,r 

prises throughout the State, a new industry was developed. /. <-., 
the entertainjnent of summer guests. Such arc the attractions 
of the seaside, mountain, and rural scenery, that a constantly 
increasing throng of tourists have sought through the summer 
months to enjoy its advantages ; and sumptuous hotels have 
everywhere been erected to meet the demands of the travelling 
public. They are built on mountain summits, in deep gorges, 
in the valleys, on the hillsides, by the rivers, and on the borders 
of beautiful lakes. The sea-coast of the State is fringed with 
hotels and private summer residences. 

From an agricukural State, New Hampshire has become a 
manufacturing centre of great importance, — the Merrimack 
river turning more spindles than any other stream of water in the 
world. In its fall of five hundred feet from Lake Winnipi- 
siogee to the ocean it is nearly every where fettered in its course ; 
and the Lake, a reservoir of over seventy square miles, is of the 
greatest service to commerce. Manchester, Nashua, Dover. 
Concord, Portsmouth, and Keene, are all manufacturing cities, 
Exeter, Rochester, Farmington, Newmarket, Epping, Deering, 
Franklin, Tilton, Laconia, Bristol, Claremont, Newport, Peter- 
borough, Lebanon, Lisbon, Littleton, Plymouth, and Berlin, 
are important manufacturing towns. Suncook, Great Falls, and 
Lake Village, are flourishing manufacturing communities. Mills 
and factories are on every stream which affords power ; and 
shops are in every village. 

In Concord, early in the century, Louis Downing and J. 
Stephens Abbot were making wagons and coaches; the Abbot 
Downing Co. continued the work. James R. Hill made bar. 
nesses, and was succeeded in the business by George H. Emery 
and ]. E. Dwight. Belting, leather hose, grarfite work, silver 
ware, churns, furniture, musical instruments, shoes, machinery, 
stoves, tools, and many other articles, are manufactured at 
Concord. 

In the State are made cotton and woollen cloths, locomotives, 
stockings, glassware, and a thousand other things. 

George Henry Emery is a descendant of Anthony Emery, 
of Newburv. Mass., in 1640. and later of Dover; of James- 



696 



HISTORY OF NEW HAMI'SHIKK. 



[1888 



Emery, a representative to the General Court in 1676; of Job 
Emery of Kittery in 1699 ; of Joseph Emery, of Job luiiery, of 
Ichabod Emery, and of Joseph Emery of Stratham, his father, 
who was a skilled machinist and a farmer. George H. Emery 
was born in Stratham, May 12, 1836, received his education in 




GEORGE HENRY EMEh 



the public schools of Concord, and in boyhood '• v/ent West." 
He became a professor in Bell's Commercial College in Chicago. 
During a visit to his old home in Concord in 1859 he was 
offered a situation, and accepted it. His energy, sagacity, and 
executive ability were soon recognized. In 1865 he was admitted 
as a member of the firm, and became the senior iii 1884. .He 



CgS Hisronv ok new hampsiiiiu;. [1888 

was married September 12, 1861, to Abbie W. Clark. Tiiree 
daughters grace his home. 

Mr. Emery is a representative of the active and enterprising 
younger business men who have been building up and sustain- 
ing manufacturing enterprises, and reaching for a market for 
their products to the uttermost parts of the world. He directs 
a great industry with apparent ease, and finds time to devote 
to the amenities of life and to social duties. 

The writer has endeavored to condense into one volume the 
history of a great commonwealth from its first beginnings at 
Little Harbor in 1623 to the year 1888, a period of two hundred 
and sixty-five years. That he has omitted much of interest will 
not be denied. The task of enlarging upon historical facts and 
placing them on record will be continued in the pages of the 
Granite Mo7itIily. New Hampshire is a charming place to live 
in. The air is bracing, dry, and salubrious ; the climate is in- 
vigorating ; the scenery is everywhere attractive, in places 
grand ; the water is pure ; the drainage is perfect : the women 
are fair and pure minded ; the men are honest and honorable. In 
no other State of the Union, perhaps, is a deeper interest mani- 
fested in the doings of the pioneers. The people of every com- 
munity live and build as if they were satisfied with the State as 
a home and did not expect to move on. The Commonwealth for 
over a century has been a nursery of men and women who have 
gone forth into other States to build up and imjirove the homes 
of their adoption. The West is full of them. 





Pf.l'lI.A 


rioN- 01 


■ Xkw 


IIV.MP 


SlIIRP.. 






COUNTIF.S. 


iSSo. 


1S70. 


1S60. 


.S50. 


1X4... 


1^30. 


1S20. 


iSio. 


Belknap. 


17.971 


17,681 


■8.549 


■7.721 


— 


— 


— 


— 


Carroll. 


18,291 


■7.332 


20,465 


20,157 


— 


— 


— 


— 


Cheshire, . 


28,846 


27,265 


27,434 


30,144 


62,429 


27,016 


45,376 


4o,9SS 


Coos, . 


.8,615 


■4,932 


.3,.6, 


..,853 


9.849 


8,38s 


4,549 


3.99" 


Graf ion. 


38,802 


39. 103 


«,26o 
62,140 


42,343 


42,3'^ 


38,682 


32,989 


28,462 


Hillsborough, . 


75,583 


64,238 


57.478 


42.494 


37.724 


53.884 


49,249 


Merrimack, . 


46,291 


42,151 


41,408 


40.337 


36,253 


34,614 


— 


— 


Rockingham. 


49,110 


47.297 


50,123 


49. '94 


45,77" 


44,325 


55. 107 


50,175 


Strafford, . 


35.593 


30.243 


3 ',493 


29.374 


61,127 


58,910 


5^.'>7 


41,595 


Sullivan, . 


18,162 


18,058 


19.042 


■9.375 


20,340 


19,669 


— 


— 


Total, 


.147,3" 


318,300 


326,073 


317,976 


284,574 


269,32s 


244,022 


214,46" 



I N D H X. 



Abbott 307. 
Benj. 433 666. 
Ephraim 132. 
T. C. 612624. 

:?. c. A. 23 ,33. 

J. Stephens 693. 

Joshua 339 341. 
Abenakis 306. 

Abercrombie, Gen. 236 24 5 246 2 
Aberdeen, Scotland 362. 
Abigail, Squaw 141. 
Abolitionist 607. 
Acadie 79 117. 
Ackland, Major 3S;. 
ACWORTH2S1, 333 .(,?; 390. 

Adams 276 657 669 670. 
Academy 654. 
Ephraim 40S. 
Hugh 176. 

James a 655- 

John 142, 176353. 

John 4S1 507 541. 

John Q 491. 

Joseph 135. 

Nathaniel 650. 

Phlnehas 533 542 553. 

Samuel 303 305 334 371. 

Winbom 3S7. 
Adjutant-Gen, 335 495 496 611- 
Admiralty Court 300. 
Advent 642. 
Africa 520. 
African 420. 
Agamenticus Mt. 40. 

(ship) 614. 
AgiQchook 669. 
A^caltural Coll. 525. 
Aiken, Andrew 339, ' 
Aiken, Jam« ,42 2,2. 

John 145 147 14S. 

Nathaniel 142. 

Walter 671. 
Aix la Chapelle 230. 
Alabama 582 611. 
Albany 281. 

Albany, N. Y. 63 162 231 233 
241 34S 365 3S1 3S9 443 

Albee, John 3S 125. 
Aldrich 276. 

Ueorge 334. 
Alexander Col. 3v-- 

James 142. 

John 633. 

Randel 142. 
Algonquin 21. 
Allen, C. W. 212. 

Daniel 132. 

John 132. 

Josiah ,37. 

Samuel 107 121 12', 12S 13^ 1 

Stephen 212. 

Thomas 133. 

William 1,1. 



"■' ' '" '■*> i.i",ii7 4S" 

Aliin, Kdward .,9. ""' 

Allison, Samuel 142. 
Almonie, Robert 100. 
AusTKAU 261 27, 290 334 3S7. 

Centre 261. 
Amazeen 128. 
Ambrose, Alice 61. 

Henry 4S. 

Anicnca So 103 140 152 ,75 .q, 

200 219 239 24S 250 252 29s 

344 348 354 36S 39S 402 419 

4:4 471 4S3 4SS 501 507 597 

604 631 635 636 640 641 645 

664. 

Amencan 201 203 205 227 233 250 

252 291 299 31S 320 321 322 

325-327 328 331 339 340 346 
35S, 360 364 378 3S1 3S3 406 
423 453 48S 491 501 507 535 
552 571 605 612 63s 636 640 
642643644645652. 
Academy of Arts 29S 375. 
Army 2S9 3S5, 
I Colonies 2 (O 240. 

I Palu„l4-~o. I 

Amcsbuiy, Mass. 113 146 422 42S I 
677 6S1. I 
Amhkrst 66 70 167 176 206264 { 
453462499527539621622623. 
Cabinet 4.S0 50S 574 655. 
(ieneral 246 247 291. 
Ammonoosuc R. U. 574. 

"ver 233 332 333 335 33S 33940S. 
Among the Clouds 669. 
Amoskeag 149 208 233 39S 476 477 ] 
530 531 532 533 553 563 596 j 

597- ' 
Falls 89 .39 557 647. 
Hotel 557. 
Manuf. Co. 65S. 
Veterans 613. 
Amran, Rev. S. 148. 
j Anabaptist 41 49 54. 
!36 I Anasagunticook 307. 
f7i ] -Anderson, Allen 142. 
1 ,. James 142. 
John 142. 
Robert 612. 
Ani)dveR454 52o576. 
Mass. 145 156 159 164 167 197 

Andre, Major 392. 
-\ndrew8689. 

.Sergt. 338. 
.\ndros. Sir Edmund 79 90 103 106 
107 110 123. 
-Androscoggin iS .S7 117. 
Angel Gabriel 635. 
■5. -Annals of I-ynn 195. 
Annapolis, I\'Id. 623. 
I -Antietam 618 621 623 625. 
I Antifederalist 416 417. 

Compiled by .lolin T- iin.l ll'hvnnl V. McClint 



Anluiomi,«iS40 4i49, 

Antrim loS 182 462 554 6ai 6jj 

Apollo 359. '■ 

Apostles 52J. 

Appeal to kmg 65. 

Applcbce 276. 

-Appledore 60. 

Appleton, Dr. 552. 
Academy 654. 
Jesse 70. 

Ap|)lelon's Cyclopedia 686. 

Appomatox 643. 

Ai'Tl(OR|.279 3o2 304414. 

.Atiuadahian 55. 

Ailjuckel, Robert 142. 

-Arcadians 231. 
j -Archibald, John 142 196. 

Ardell, Wm. 130, 
j Ardra, Ireland 356. 
; Argus and Spectator 655. 
' Arlington 219. " 

.Armenia, Turkey 520. 

.Armour, Andrew 196. 

AinistrouE, John 196. 

Army of the Gull 625-627-628. 
of the James 6t6 619 620 624 626 

*27- 
of the Potomac 616 621 623 626. 
of the United States 346. 
Aniold, Benedict 345 365 386 39c 
. 3<)2. 

Articles of Confederation 4"S. 
Ash 276. 

-Ashburton Trtiaty sR'>. 
Ashland 663 66S. 
.AsIjIcv, Sam. 279 2^. 
-Ashuelot Bank 599 
R R. 574. 
River 391. 
Assembly 95-97 101 104 117 12S- 
132 134 "37 mS 162 17s 176 
iSo 182 189 198 204 211 252 
253 267 26S 291 300 301 342 
346 349-35" 363 37S 420 428 
5'»l- 
Asten, Abiel 156 159. 
Athenian 381. 
Athens 344. 
Atherlon 441. 
Charles 394. 
Charles G. 594 598 600. 
Charles H. 467651. 
loshua 417 552. 
Bill 601. 
Atkin.son 2S7 373 406 654. 
Academy 461. 
George 403 407. 
Samuel 339. 

Theodore 125 126 12S 130 1 ■.• 

'74 "75 205 2" 355 .3'" i''i 

423 424 425 426 554 

\tlantic 18 20 1S4 185 230 266 55') 



& St. I-awrencc R. R. 574- 



642 



Attorney-General 300. 
Atwood, John 6oj. 
Auburn 145 149 267. 
Aulb, John 47. 
Austin Academy 654. 

Hope 535. 

Joseph 4S. 

Misses 670. 
Austria 487. 
Austrian Mission 630. 
Austyn, Theo. 99. 
Avery, Daniel 258. 
Averytown 257. 
Aver, Ebenezer 156 159 215, 

F. D. 164 167 559. 

R. H. 509. 

Babbett, Geo. M. 473. 

J. W. 625. 
Bacon, Bishop 645. 
Badger 654. 

Joseph 406 417 4511 <^(Kf. 

Wm. 569 570 571 t>2o. 
Bailey 276 390. 

E. U 615 616. 

Jonathan 302. 
Bahamas 501. 
Baker, Abel 604. 

Abigail 658. 



Ja 






lohn 76, 

Joseph 4S3. 

Mark 97. 

Moses 270 409. 

Nalh'l B. 604. 

O. C. 658 1.59 

Samuel 389. 

Wm. 262. 
Baker's Corner 260 262, 

Pond 228. 

River 226 22S 398. 
Balch, John 42S. 
Baldwin, Mr. 273. 

Col. 469 510. 

Henry 47. 

Isaac 2S9 33S. 

Thomas 263. 
Ball, Capt. 387 -ioo. 

B. L. 571. 

Peter 100. 
Ballard, Ebenezer 275. 

John 207. 

Joseph 275. 
Ballock, n. W. 622. 
Baltimore 577 643. 
Bancroft, Geo. 320329383 399 66f). 
Bandfield, Jno.'ioo. 
Bannister, Warner 261. 
Baptist 71 J95 197 260 261 364 277 
4SS 490 505 522 523 530 559 



Barbadoes 61 64 105 287. 
Barclay, Capt. 317 350. 
Berber, Daniel 281. 
Barefoote, Walter 5i 96 i 

Barker, T. E. 616 627. 

T. A. 628. 
Barnard, Jeremiah 176. 
Barlow, Geo. 48. 
Barnett, John 142. 



566. 



Mo 



■ 142. 



Barney, Humphrey 99. 
Barnstable 41 195. 
Barnstead 173 211 569633. 
Barnum, P. T. 262. 
Baron de St. Castine 1 10. 

Dieskan 233. 
Barr, John 142. 



Barr, Samuel 142. 

Barrett 276. 

KARElNCiTON 143 149211 251 537. 

Barron, Ellas 156 159 160. 

Micah 464. 
Barry, J. E. 644. 

Thorn. 634. 
Barstow, Geo. 516 527. 
Bakti.ett, 433. 

Bradbury 502 514 515 546 fjoo. 

C'harles H. 678 679. 

Ichabod, 564 566 56S too r.^i 

John 100. 

J. C. 526. 

lane 67S. 

John 67S. 

Josiah 367 381 393 394 403 417 

419 42S 429430431 432 434 444 

446 448. 

Richard 539 651 67S. 

Samuel C. 516 668. 

'I'homas 344 345 3O7 407. 
Bartlett's Dictionary 310. 
Barton, Cyrus 600. 

Goodwile 57. 

I. McL. 612 622 

Josiah 334. 
Basques 20. 
Batchelder, Benjamin 133. 

J-)an!el ti99. 

Elijah 45S. 



1290. 



lohn 2c> 

N.',than Si 133 408. 

N.Uhai.icl 97. 

R. N, 612. 

.Stephen 42 48 53 69. 
Bates, Dexter 261. 
Bath 263 409 61S 654. 

Me. 617. 
Bayard, J. A. 471 472. 
Bay Colony 32 44 45 47 6S 72 

Magistratis 46. 

State 454. 

of Fundy 231. 
Bayley, Josiah 133. 
Beal, Capt. Hezekiah 3.Si). 

Josejih 47. 
Beaman, John 207. 
Bean, John 98 207. 

Jonathan 270. 

Joseph 286. 

I.ieut. 286. 

S. C. 651. 

.Sinclair 553. 
Beard, Joseph 99. 

Wm. 85. 

Robert 208. 



Bell, Charles H. 366 376 378 450 
553 651 661 674-676684. 

Ensign 3S7. 

Fred 3S7. 

James 257 600 605 606, 

John 142 450611 675. 

Jonathan 526. 

Joseph 57S. 

Louis 6i2 619 620. 

Persis T. 675. 

Samuel 448 511 514 515 s.-i 525 
5=6 533 553 570 595 6.-0 675. 

Samuel Dana 651 675. 

& Tuck 675 6S2. 
Belletre, Mons. 248. 
Bellingham, Rich. 54 74. 
Bellona 557. 

Bellows, Benjamin 219 417. 
1 Herbert A. 613. 

Chief Justice Henry A. 577 

Falls 462. 
Belmont 256 257 569. 
Belvidere 83. 
Bemis Hciiihts 346 388. 

Station 661. 



274. 



Tho 



*47- 



Beaver River 196. 
Beaufort 619. 
Beckwith, Eben 260. 
Bedel, Haien 600 

John 588 59961S619 656. 

^Ioody 4S9 494 505 5S8 61S. 

Timothy 378 409 61S. 
Bedford 2 14 239 240 241 337 633. 
Beede, Daniel 459. 
Belcher, Jonathan 173 174 175 176 
17S1S3 1S4 1S7 188423. 
Belfast, Me. 356. 

Belknap, Jeremy 21 23 24 25 26 36 

3738.3905 "57 "58 "75 "99 2"4 

268-303 363 379 430 432. 

Co. 626 . 

Geo. E. 630. 

William 276. 
Bell, 128. 



Vt. 372 382 383 384 391 407 412 
419481 545 668672. 
Benton 279. 

Jacob 678. 

James 408. 
Behi.in 287 288 483 48?;. 
Bermuda 501. 
Berry, James 132. 

Joseph 132 163. 

Nathaniel 132. 

Nathaniel S. 576 617. 

William 47. 
Berwick, Me. I<X5 161 356 360 361. 
Bethel 535. 
Bethlehem 414 660. 
Belton, James 408. 
Belts 639. 

Beverly, Mass. 540. 
Bible 171 255. 
Biblical Journal 258. 
Bickford, John 99. 

William 210. 
Bicknall, N.athaniel 263. 
Biddeford, Me. 161. 
Bill 276. 

Billerica, Mass. 156 262 322 469 
657- 
Billines, John 47. 
Billv 5^0. 
Kilbbv, 'Enu. 41. 
Bingham 436. 

Elisha 263. 

Harry 6S7 689. 
Bird, S,->miiel2i3. 
Bishop 27b. 

Elder 263. 

Thomas 323. 
Bixby, Phin. P. 623. 
Black, Israel 133. 

Brook 531. 

Point 89 iiS. 

Rocks 85. 
Blackbourne 293. 
Blackstone 453. 
Blackwater River 553. 
Blaine, J. G. 60S. 
Blair, H. W. 409 628. 



142. 



John 142. 
Montgomery 541. 
Blake, Amos J. 290 342 365. 
John 97. 
Moses 133 304. 
Nathan, 207. 



Blake, Philip 133 

Timothy 1:^4 
Blake's Pond ^^04 
Blanchard, Abel, 522 

Colonel 213 253 =34 297 

David 5S6 

Jonathan 167403 ^19 421 

Joseph 14S 

Richard A. 57S 



Tho 



154 



Blind Will 89 
Bliss 276 

W. W. S. 599 

Blodgett2i2 

Newcomb 278, 551 
Samuel 477 56^ 
Blood 213 
Aretas 593 674 
Caleb 260 
Ebenezer 335 
Ephraim 340 
Francis 403 4o(> 
James 674 
Joseph 335 
Nathan 340 
Bloody Point 46 72 135 234 
Blunt, John 125 
Board of Assistants 50 
of Trade loi 105 1S3 
Boardman, Joseph 367 
Boating Company 475 
Bohonnon, Andrew 177 
Boiling Rock 73 
Bologna 219 
Bolton, Conn. 276 
Bon Secour 639 
Bonny Place 576 
Boott's Spur 37 
Borough 543 

BoscAWEN 169 176 206 264 2S5 33S 

339 454 464 473 499 554 55S 576 

. , . , 654 679 

Admiral 177 192 194 

Boston 37 39-43 50 54 60 62 63 65 69 

~73 79 Si SS 103 104 106 107 1 1 1 

i:S 123 129 134 13S 139 150 1S2 

183 201 204 210 217 236 261 

2S0 2S7 293 297 302 316-322 326 

329 333 335 33S 339 342 344 

345 355 353 360 363 364 3S1 391 

40S 414 419 424 426449450457 

45S462 467-469 475 47S 499 50^ 

- S'o 540 541 544 55° 556 537 5^1 

562 572 575 586596 597600607 

622 671 

Boston Common 327 455 

Concord & Mont. R. R. 573600 
Courier 563 
Journal 649 
Liberator 5S5 
& Lowell R. R. 46$ 469 
& Maine R. R. 573 
Neck 364 
News Letter 194 
Pilot 642 
Post Boy 194 
Bolta 329 

Boulter, Nathaniel 97 
Boundaries iS 

Boundan'-line Com'n iSi 1S2 1S5 
Bourget, Bishop 636 
Bourne, Lizzie 671 
Bouton, Nathaniel 34 51 155 167 
214267268335 337559650651 
Boutwell, James 197 
Bow 157 161 171 173 176 195 211 
214 215 221 222 224 225234 235 
265 266 330 33S 461 477 510525 
564 
Act 224 235 



College 70 591 
' lohn 554 

Bow I rs, 164 
Gcaree599 627 

P'vH N.. than 337 
I.vttht:W53 

Ulcof482 

' ' ■ •■ 11)11, Jacob 340 
liiackctt i(>3 

Academy 654 

Anthony 47 

A. N. 670 

Joshua 431 

William 47 
Braddock, General 231 235 
Bradfokd 33S 4O4 554 

(Historian) sS 

Mass. »6 146 672 

Captain 273 
Bradley, Dennis M. 645 

Jonathan 207 

Samuel 207 

Sarah 524 
Bradstreet, Dorothy 69 

Nathan 147 

Simon 52 69 74 107 
Braintree, Mass. 41 
Brakin, Wm. 47 
Bramen 597 
Bramhall, George 100 
Brandy wine 340 354 
Brant 355 
Brassv 639 
BratzJ Mons. du S2 
Breakfast Hill 114 
Breckenridgt;, I. C. 611 
Breed's Hill, 31S 321 323 328 363 
Brentwood 197 388 

Brewer, Colonel 324 331 

Ensign 241 
Brewster 428 

C. W. 95 
Nero 395 

Brewster's Rambles 268 
Breyman, Col. 3S7 
Bridge, Ebenezer 332 332 
Bridgewater 2S1 458 526 527 
Bridgemau's Fort 207 208 
Briggs, J. F. 626 668 
John 668 
Nancy F. 66S 
Nathan 38S 
Brigham, David 277 
Bristol 526 617 
Eng. 22 24 46 
R. !. 82 
British 174 192 231 232 239 240 245 
24S 250 295 29S 299 314 3>S- 
32732933' 339340342343350 
353 354 359 3*3-365 3*9 3S2 383 
3S5 3S7 39>-393 396 398 425 448 
4S8 491 301 502 505507550631 
640 
Brittany 20 
Broadhead, John 459 
Broderick, 633 

J- ■"'.. <, 
Broeck, Ten 387 

Brookin, William 100 

Brookunk 2S7 337 

Brooks, Major 323 

General 3S7 
Brown, Arthur 17S 249 589 

Colonel 290 

D. A. 6i9 
Elizabeth 249 
Francis ;6i 5.8 



John 4» ,00 133 S9» 
Joseph 70 

S. V. 6iq 

Timothy 207 

William iti 

William I...;, 

University ^„^ ; „ ,.:o 
Brunswick, .V.c ;„ 
Bij-.mt, John .3; 

koberl 132 

Walter 157 iSS 
Buchanan, James ;oi , 608 
Buckminstcr, Joseph 71 

Lieut. Cul. 324 
Buckstreet 171 235 
Bucna Vista $\^f 
Buffce, I'honias 334 
Bulklev, Peter 67 
Bull, llixy ,7 

Run (.12 615616622 (..•! 
BullRar, Richard 48 5,1 
Huuncompai;ni, Hurojk) 
Btmkcr Hill 257 274 2V,» 299 316 
318321323325327.110,31-355 
33633'r346 363 3/0 408 550634 
6ja 
Burbank Muses 177 

Samuel 207 
Bureau of Education 520 

Burke, Edmund 577 689 
Burleigh, M. C. 613 

IMacc 554 
Burlington 49.1 
Burnap, Jacob 212 
Burnet, William 152 173 
Burnham, Abraham 459 

Abraham W. 522 

Elizabeth 153 

S. O. 615 
Bums 143 

Charles A. «)i 

Charles H. 661 662 

Elizabeth H. 601 

John 303-<x>i 
Bumside. Gen. 622 
Burpee, Nathaniel 262 
Burr, Aaron 449 
Burt 276 
Burroughs, Dr. 591 

Charles 551 

Joseph 65 
Burton 2S1 
Burv, Eng. 668 
Butfer 499 

Benj. F. 345 625 630 681 

Henry 345-49" 

John 212 

Ju<l.?e 53S 

Tobias 63J 

William 634 

Zephaniah 345 
Butler's Tavern 461 
Buttcrfield, J. Ware 627 
Butt's Hill 354 
Buzzell 673 

Caldwell, James 142 196 
Calf, John 1.14 I4<> MS 439 

Robert 14S 
Cahoon, G. C. 6.S9 
California 59<-, (xvS 
Calisto. Marie 2l>i 262 
Call, Philip 5-,; 554 

Stephen 2S5 553 




633-634 



Cambridge, ling. 49 
Cambridge Collifge, Eng. 70 71 
Cambridge, Mass. 201 274 3'4 3== 
. 33 ' 332 34° 342 343 344 363 380 
447 574 
Camden. N. C. 622 
Cameron, Simon 611 612 
Cammct, Silas 269 
Campbell, Daniel 

Heui7 ig6 

James 142 

John uj6 
Cami'Ton 409 287 300 
Canaan 263 45S 654 660 685 
Canada 24 86 S9 no ni 112 iM 
115 u8 119 152 154 >57 '62 1 

205 207 2oS 210 211 212 230 I 

245 246 255 271 275 =7S =»° i 

306 307 345 346 365 37S 379 

396 398 433 469 536 554 58; i 

588 635 

Canadians 636 

Canal Company 475 

Canaugh, Jeremy 98 

Candia 145 '46 148 149 267 279 
333 405 646 

Canie, Joseph 99 

Canney, Tliomas 47 

Canning, Thomas 135 

Cansean, 199205 317 

CASTEunrKY 173 207208 211 256 

302 388 395 408 421 545 583 584 

633 

t.artby 632 
Cape Ann 23 39 

Breton 19S 199 280 289 (>32 
Cod 21 
Capitol ^(<s 

Cardigan Mount 434 435 
Cari;iil, David 142 
Carlton or Carleton 
David 334 
Edward 53 
George 334 365 
Robert 414 
Theodore 367 
Carling, S. J. 59* 
Carpenter, Abraham 264 
Frank P. 674 
Philip 67S 
Carr, John 153 268 269 

Jesse 576 338 
Carre. Sir Robert 61 
Carribee Islands 17S 
Carriuain 633 
Carrigan's Mass 235 
Carrington, H. B. 318, 363 
Carroll Co. 627 685 
Carter. Ezra 214 235 
Philip 98 
Stephen 334 
S. A. 628 
William G. 
Carthaginians 82 
Carticr, Jacques 20 
Cartwrisht, George 61 

Rev. Dr. 530 
Casco Bay 51 9° "5 ■■? 
Case, Samuel 100 
Casey 634 
Cass, Benjamin 270 
Jonathan 371 
John 134 
Joseph 97 134 
hems 3715°' 56s 666 
Samuel 97 
Castle Island 645 
Castinegi 116 117 



Castiiie, Baron Ac 

Caswell, Me. 2'i3 
Nathan 414 
1 Robert 48 

Cale, A. P. 600 
1 Edward 99 
I lohii 132 

Wiliiam 100 
I Cathedral 645 

Catholic no 139 



■Hint 304 306 

M4 145 

= 54 332 436 454 585 

Republican 262 601 655 
aptain 117 



9 635 6;! 

642 64,. ' .,.1 
Cattor, widow 99 
Cavis, C. H. V. 671 
Cawkwcll. Eng. 71 
Cavalrv N. H. 629, 630 
Cedar Swamp 5S0 . 

Cel-bratiiig Christmas a cnme 63 
Celtic 355 632 
Celts 634 
Centennial 663 
Center, Jacob 461 
Ckn'TKE Habbok 281 458 459 460 
Cerberus (ship) 323. 
Cliadburne, Humphrey 35 47 

VViUiam 47 
Chads, Captain 323 
Chamberlain, Benjamin 142 
Kbenezer 460 
John 156 159 
Levi 600 651 
Richard 101 104 
Champernooii, Francis 104 
Champlain 21 
Chandler, Abi.al 339 
Benianiin 671 
Geo. H. 625 
John 195 214 235 
Chandler, Zachariah 520 439 
■William E. 6O0 685 686 6S7 
Peak 671 
School 521 
Chancellorsville62i 627 
Chantilly 623 
Chapmnn, Calvin 195 
Charges a'.;ainsi Puritans 62 63 64 
diaries I. '21 64 189 

II. 51 656993 105 139223 453 
River 33 38 194 321 322 469 
Charleston, S. C. 619 624 652 

Harbor 612 
CHARI.E.STOWN 177206208209 210 
221 264 27S 293 335 509 5S6 58S 
605 654 
Convention 435 

Mass 319 320 321 322 323 327 333 
^Tc 336 340 407 408 428 436 451 
3J5 a i-i ^^^ ^^ j^jj 



Benjamin 144 267 

Carlton 589 

Home 674 

James 98 

John 414 

'Moses 406 439 

Philander 590 

Rachel 98 

Salmon P. 406 611 630 647 

Stephen 125 

Thomas 48 98 
Chatham 287 
Cbatterton, Thomas 47 

Michael 47 
Chaudiere 536 



Cha 



, Dr. : 



Chelmsford 468 509 550 
Cheney, Benjamin P. 600 

Person C. 627 662 663 064 

Thomas P. 622 



I l,e^luK 141 143 '44 145 146 147 
148 149 153 206211 267268333 
389 408 4" 450 464 526 555 
654 672 
Centre 145 267 
Eng. 70 
Captain 330 
Chestebfikld 219 334 409 436 44'» 
45S 607 034 
Chestnut country 143 267 
Chevalier, J no. 100 
Cliicago 598 685 

Convention 684 
Chichester 173 211 337 380 45S 
54 1 
I hina 520 
C hmiquy 635 
C bippewa 505 
Chiswick 302 414 
Chittendon 436 
Choate 143 
Christian 220 260 277 

Brothers 645 
Christie or Cristi 169 
Daniel M. 554 594667 
Jesse 142 , 
Christo et Ecclesese 20i 
Church Iddo 3S8 
John 99 114 
John H.212 
'Histoi-y 68 
;illd State 68 
I i England 133 590 
ui Refuge 
of Home 68 
Chnrchill, Henr^' 627 
Churchman 46 49 74 5^9 
(. illey 634 
Bradbury 504 
emitting 345 
D. P. 290 

Joseph 334 346 347 368 372 386 
387 3S8 389 390 4'3 439 
Cincinnati 679 
C'i'.ceit Court 480 
City of Brotherly Love 557 
Claggett, Clifton 486 
Wvseman 300 301 
Clap'p, E. W. 540 
Clakemont 279 281 38S 462 590 
592 605 654 693 
Junction 281 
Clark or Clarke 276 633 
Abraham 99 
Arthur 4S 

Daniel 605 606 613 6S0 
Greenleaf 654 
James 142 
John 70 98 
John B. 654 655 
loseph B. 657 
Jnha 654 
Major 98 387 
Matthew 142 
Rev. 148 
Samuel 100 137 
Thomas 66 76 gS 
I Ward 118 

Clay, Henrj' 541 609 646 
I John 270 



l.\'DEX. 



Clear Stream 536 
ClemeiuVioi 103 

Job 94 99 

Robert 54 

Sarali 217 
C:L-ndenin, Andrew iJj 

Arch, ,42 
Cleveland 247 

Ciitiord 655 

Israel 134-9S 

Jacob 134 

lohn gS 

John Jr. 9S 

2achariali 134 
Clinch, Jno. 
Clinton 401 

General 319 322 329333 354 

Clogstone, Paul 335 
dough 302 

Jeremiah 40S 

John 526 

Jos, M. 629 
Cloyes, Elijah 334 
Clyde, Daniel 196 
Cobbett or Corbett 632 

Abraham 62 64 

Thomas 107 loS 
Cobbett's Pond 1S7 195 
Cobleigh 276 
Coburn, Andrew 3S7 
Cocheco 27 67 S7 89 no 111 113 
1 14 119 633 
Cochran, Admiral 501 

Chauncey 566 

James 413 414 

John 17S 196 

Peter 142 147 

Kobert 142 

Sally 565 56S 569 

Tlioinas 142 147 

William 142 

William H. D. 626 
Cod, Cape 21 
Coe, Curtis 174 176 

Joseph 339 
Coffin, Enoch 164 

John T. 55 

Peter 76 95 9S 1 1 1 118 

Samuel 539 
Cojan 633 
Cogswell 654 6S5 

t^ol. 337 

Jos. G. 666 

L. W, 626 

Thomas 439 628 6S1 684 6S9 

William 431 536 569 
Cohoi 30J 

Coit, Henry A. 606 654 
Colburn 212 213 

Andrew 342 

Thomas 340 
Colby 276 

Academy 654 

Anthony 594 

Benaiah 146 

Enoch 146 26S 

Fred Myron 1S9 347 361 379 3,^2 
393 444 45° 55 > 569 57° 57' 

John 70 2S4 

Joseph 594 595 

Rev. 148 

Simeon P. 576 
Colchester 279 
Colcord, Edward 48 52 76 97 

Peter 153 

Samuel 97 12S 



Cold Friday 4S5 

Harbor 6i5 621 623 621] 

NVater Anny 535 
Cole 276 

Abraham 98 

Eunice Go 

ls.iac 98 

John 334 

Matthew 47 

Samuel 2S0 
C01.EBKOOK 588 592 654 



Cole 



, Ann 



Jabe,. ... .„ 

William 452 
Collins Ephraim 5^4 

John 286 

Moses A, 626 

Thomas 337 
Colmer, Abraham 25 
Colonial Confederation 231 

Lavv-s 308309310311312 3,3 
Colonies 252 370 
Colorado 631 
Colt, Captain 330 
Colton, Chester 197 
Columbus 30 
Comach, Thomas 47 
Combination 42 
^ of N, E. Colonies 77 
Connncrcial Bulletin 649 
Commissioners 1S5 
Connmttee on Claims 585 

..uFinance659 

<A Safety 2S0 293 294 295 297 298 

320 323 332 343 345 347 349350 

361 365 370 372 373 377 378 3S1 

407421428445447 

Commonwealth 403 470 513 514 558 

,, '^"S- 5' , . 6,5 

Company of Laconia 24 26 

Comstock, Azariah 388 

Cyrus 261 
Conaghie, John 142 
Conant, Wm. 263 

CON'CORD 21 140 164 165 167 171 
179 206-^oS 215 2172=8249258 

=75 276 285 2S6337 33S3393S3 
389396402 4o6 4ii4i4 4i74=S 
432 441 446447 450 453 455 450 
461 462 469 475 476 478 4S0 484 
490 494 508-512 522 523 530 539 

543 544 554 559 560 563 564 566 
568 572 574 576 5S3 591 593 596 
600-606612 615-628630633644 
651 654 655 657 66r 667 674 679 

6S1 685 686 693 
Mass. 156 31S 320 363 373 674 
Bridge 447 

& Claremont R. R. 574 
Depot 690 
Gazette 480 

R, R. 564 600 689 691 692 
Vermont 6S9 
Conemaugh (ship) 614 
Confederate 61= 652 
Congregational Church 68 70 145 
147 164 257 25S 259 260 261 263 
264 26S2772S0281 290421 460 
490 505 S'o 584 585 677 6S4 
Congress 253 =55 292 295 29S 314 
342 346 347 349 352 354 35S 3*3 
365370371 373 37637737S381 
382 383 393 399 402 403 406 407 
412 414417418419420421422 
425 429 432 43* 439 447 449 459 
470471 472474479480481 485 

488 500 515 520533 538542 !;43 

544 564 571 577 5S5 591 606 60S 
609 613 614 617 668 676 678 6S0 



R. R 574 
Coimellv, Capt. 644 
C..nn,.lly 633 
Lonn„r632„34 

Itciiiainni 433 

J. B. 2,4 45= 

Samuel 3H8 
C.Mist.ible, Andrew 98 
Constitution, Koit 504 

U.S. 286287355 
Continental Army 240 291 343 345 
36S40J41J 

Congress 684 
Conloocook 116 139 15s 176206207 
543 000 654 
. K- R. 574 
Convention 377 
Converse, Nelson 622 
Cornwall, Oni. 679 
CoNWAV 281 433 573 669 
Cook or Cooke, Col. 386 387 

ElUha 207 

Howard M. 522 

Jolni 99 

Richard 76 

W. N. 625 

\V. W. 620 
Coolbaueh, I''. C. 674 
Coolc, William 48 
Coolcy 276 
Coolidge. (oscph 562 
Cooper, VVilliain 47 
Coos Countv 171 2i6 227 229 448 
47^ 534 t>7» 678 

County Bar 5SS 

Republican 629 
Coosauk 304 
Coo^aukes 307 
Copley 294 
Copp, E. J. 619 
Copp's Hill 195 323 329 
Cork 635 642 
Corlis. Jon. 337 
Conielius 633 
Cornish 279 335 406 624 

Convention 43c 
Cornwallis, Lord 346 347 395 396 
449 
Cossit, Ranna 2S1 590 
Cotton 

Seaborn 69 104 

Theodore 133 1 

Ward 69 

William 100 
Couch, Robert 59 
Coughlan, John 626 634 
Council 180 181 268347349363409 
423 424 453 467 490505 5065" 
553 5<>» <»3 653 680 

Room 192 193 

of New England 25 45 

of Nice 219 

of Safety 107 

of Trade 78 
Count de Frontennc 112 114 

Rumford 165 396 445 603 604 
Countess Rumford 165 604 
Courier, Boston 563 
Court of Appeals 391 

of Assocntcs 50 95 



Court of Common Pleas 174 2 

2S7345 350371 406407 40S4 

42M29 45S49S52'S33 5'*6 5 

570 576604 617 661 684 6 

of St. James iSi 

of Sessions 469 533 
Covenanters, Scotch 140 1S6 
Cox, Jno. 99 

Moses 48 97 
Cradock, Matthew 30 
Crafts, WUliam 100 

W, A. 616622 
Ci.ii-e, John 142 

Alexander 147 

Hugh 143 
Cram, Asa 335 

Benjamin 98 134 

Daniel H. 599 

Jonathan 2S6 

John 134 408 

N. i>. 592 

Thomas 9S 134 
Crame, John 4S 

Cranfield, Edward 71 97 100 i 
103 104 105 III 125 3 
Crawford 541 671 

Abel 670^71 

Ethan A. 670 

John 389 

Tliomas J. 670 

William 147 
Crawley, Thomas 48 
Crichitt, Elias 98 
Cromav, John 142 
Crombie, James 388 
Cromwell, John 212 

Oliver 41 51 64 69 139 196 631 

Phillips 99 

Thomas 48 
Cromwell's Falls 476 
Cross, E. E. 620621 622 

John 48 52 74 

Mr. 212263 

Nathan 154 

Richard E. 621 

William 285 
Crosby, Alphens 13. 6ia 

Jaazamiah 177 

Josiah 333 
Crossfield, John 389 
Crow-bill 484 

Crown Point 162 229 230 231 2 
234 236 237 241 242 245 246 2 
3654 
Crowther, John 47 

Crystal Hills 36 
Culpeper Court 
Cumberland County 300 
Cummings 212 213 

Abrani 289 

Henry 554 

William 155 
Cunningham 143 633 
furrier. Hannah 2S3 

Joseph 270 

Moody O13 664 679 680 

Sargeant 414 
Curtice, G. A. 624 
Ctirtiss, John P. 380 
Curwen's Journal 201 
Cushing, Joseph 480 
Cushman 276 
Cutt or Cutts 

C^.^rles 484 

Kknor 100 

Hannah 94 

John 73 76 93 94 95 97 423 



622 



Cutt or Cutts, Mary 100 

Otsella 100 

Richard 66 73 76 94 

Robert 94 

Ursula 94 n4 
Cutter, Robert 195 

Seth 337 
Cuyahoga 247 
Cypher, John 337 

IDadman. J. A. O19 
Dale, John 272 
Dalton 228302 304414 

Calel) 338 

Philemon 48 53 

Samuel 74 94 97 98 

Timothy 42 69 

Tristram 302 
Dam, John 99 

Wildram 99 
Dame, Charles 197 

Harriet P. 617 

L. L. 468 
Dana, Sylvester 263 

William 264 
Dane 34 
Danforth, Nath. 177 

Samuel 36 
Daniell or Daniells 143 281 

Samuel 40S 

Thomas 76 94 100 101 103 
Danvers, Mass. 272 
Danville 264 45S 
Darby 633 
Darley 276 
Darn, John 48 
Dartmouth 279 305 

College 70 176 254 264 2S0 351 
352 406 435 448 482 499 508 510 
512 514-516518-521 526540554 
555 55S 564 571 584 585 590 599 
601 605 606 61 7 653 654 655 659 
660 667 668 675 680 6S9 

Medical College 521 
Davis, Abel 2S5 

Aquila 494 

Benjamin 264 

Daniel 132 

Eleazer 156 15.) lOo 161 

Francis 408 464 

James 48 52 74 loS 

John 334 

Josiah 156 1 58 

Jefferson 612 

Marj' 285 

Moses 153 587 

Robert 57 539 560 

Samuel 132 3O5 62S 

Timothy 100 117 
Day, P. B. 212 
Deane, Charles 25 
Dearborn Academy 654 

Ebenezer 145 146 

Ceorge W. 372 

Godfrey 48 

Henry 97 195 337 344 345 346 368 
385 387 3S9 390 

John 97 

Samuel 12S 33S 339 

S. G. 624^ 
Debeline, Capt. 209 210 
DeChamplain2i 
Declaration Independence 195 303 
305 377 37S 3S1 401 407 420 424 
429 
Deep Run 619 621 624 
Deekfielu 177 209 26S 281 336338 
344 388 389 408 538 592 
Deekinc; 462 654 
Deer-keepers 312 



Deer Neck 454 

Delaware 470 471 472 671 
Demerit, Joseph 290 
Democrat 402 412 416 419 421 422 
474 485 490 500 508 53S 539 558 
565 570 572 573 575 577 57S 579 
586591 592 S93 595 600601 60s 
607 6og 646 651 659 667 
Denham, Alexander 97 
Denison, General 67 
Denmark 262 483 
Dennet Alexander roo 

John 99 
Dennis 633 

John 177 
Derby 376 
Dermont 632 
Derrv 141 144 187 336 620 654 

James 99 

John 99 
Derrj'field 218 337 398 405 530 
D'Estaing 354 
Detroit 230 24S 249 491 501 
Devens, Richard 323 
Devon 22 
Devonshire 302 
Dewey 276 
Dexter 276 
Dickerson, Castro 249 

Sylvia 249 
Dickey, Matthew 336 
Dinsmoor, Robert 564 565 

Samuel 489 53S 542 564 570 59^ 
601 

William 564. 
Dinsmore, John 142 196 564 
District Coiumbia 614 

Court U. S. 630 
Dix, John A. 630666 
Docom, John 132 
Dodge 307 

Col. 323 

L. W. 301 307 
Doe, Charles 482 
Dolhoff, Christian 98 
Donaldson, Major 565 
Donally 634 
Donavan 634 
Donnell 633 
Donohoe 634 

M. T. 6)9626644 

Patrick 642 
Doolittle, Cnl. ^35 
Door, Jonatlian 207 

Richard 100 
Dorchester 2S1 633 

Mass. 195 319 320 

Ens. 24 

Heights 364 
Dort, O. (;. 622 
Douelas, l*atrick 142 

S. A. 611 
Dow, Daniel 98 

Henry 74 <^tS 130 

Jonathan 417 

John 592 

Joseph 98 651 

Moses 403 407 

Reuben 340 341 
Downer, William 264 ^ 
Downing, Emanuel 54 

Louis 693 
Downs, Ebenezer 153 

Gershom 207 

Thomas 99 

Dover 24 25 26 33 38 40 41 42 43 

47 48 50 53 54 55 56 61 62 65 

6669 7071 72 73 76 84 85 87 

93 94 95 96 97 'O' ^03 107 108 



Dover Cotitiiwfd 

III 113 115 11^119138153162 
171 176175211:2938740(1420 

466 482 503 592 593 594 601 624 
644 645 654 655 067 6S1 693 

Dover named 53 

Dover Gazette 592 59S 601 

Neck 30 34 40 44 

Point 21 24 272S 

& Wiunipiseogee R. R. 573 574 
Doyne, Francis 169 
I>rake, Abraham 97 
Diaper 281 
Dresden 598 
Dresham 274 
Drew, Irving W. 678 

John 118 

I.D. 619 
1 iiisco, Tege 98 
I Inscoll 632 633 
Drown, John 134 

Leonard 615 
Drummond, I'r. 645 
Driiry's Bluff 619 627 
Dry Tortugas 624 
Dublin 633 67S 
Dudley, Ann 119 

John 3S0 

Joseph 105 121 130 136 

Mary 1 ig 

Samuel 53 54 70 98 1 19 

Stephen 144 

Theof 98 

Thomas 70 74 105 117 iiS 132 
134 135 '36 
Duggan or Duggin 632 633 

Daniel 100 
Duke of York 90 
Duke's Province 79 
,s. S. H 



Du 



, Wn 



■52 



Dunbar, David 174 176 19S 

DUNBARTON 149 214 215 217229 

234 3Si 39S 399 400 654 
Duncan, John 40S 439 

S. A. 62S 
Dunkirk 200 
Dnnlap, Alex. 196 

James 1,6 
Dunstable 66 iiS 131 155 156 160 
167208210211 212 213272304 
334 335 3S7 634 
Durell, Edward H. 294 630 
Durham ioS 113 176 178 299 357 
35S359361 3863874=0455469 
628 633 
Dustin, Hannah 115 116 120 

Paul 261 
Dutch 41 51 79 93 130 
Duxbury 453 633 
Dwight, Rev. Dr. 351 



Dvv 



r634 



. Slichael 633 
Dyer O34 
Mary 521 
Joseph 522 

Eagle Coffee House 600 

Hotel 565 
Eames, Capt. 304 

Daniel 2S3 

David 435 

James H. 591 

Jonathan 2S3 
Earl of Belmont izg 130 

Halifax 426 
Earle, William 100 
East Boston 5S5 

Concord 22 140 i66 339 



i;.ist Dcrry iS; 

^lilin.nit.m 257 

titt-'enwicU 391 

India 292 

lndi:i Company 17S 
East Kingston 186 2S1 

Lebanon 435 
r.asU:rn K. k. 573 5S0 581 
I'.asiern Diocese 589 
Eastman 276 

Abigail 2 84 

Amos 213 226 227 398 

Cyrus 613 

Kben 163 

Kbenezer 229 33S 554 

Edward 2S6 

Ira A. 257 

Jeremiah 40S 

Joel 600 

Jonathan 494 587 600 

J.C. 6.3 

S. C. 6S9 

Timothy 526 542 
Eaton 2S1 

Collins 389 

F. B. 267 647 649 

John 134 

Samuel 301 
Eayers, Edward 99 
P^avrs, Wm. 142 
Edkerley, I\I. j. B. 678 

Thos. 107 259 
I'^dniunds, T. M. 613 
Eighteenth Regt. 622 630 644 
ICishth Rugl. 616 625 630644 
Ela2 76 
Eh, J.H. 591 

Richard 619 
I'^ldvidge, Erasmus 70 
Eleventh Regt. 623 626 630 652 



Elizabeth. Queen 23 
Elkins, Eieazer 9S 

Gershom 97 12S 

Henry 48 

Moses 117 
EH. Walter roo 
Ellins, Anthony 47 
Elliot S3 

Church 83 650 

Deborah 524 

Jacob 339 

Robert 95 100 104 107 
Ellis, Caleb 498 

Francis D. 262 

Jno. 9S 

Joshua 334 

River 37 
ElmendorE 471 
Elmira, N. Y. 355 
Elms, Anthony 99 

Farm 285 
Emanuel College 71 
Embur>'. Philip 458 
Emerald Isle 631 
Emerson, Amos 333 

Benjamin 257 

Daniel 212 213 40S 

Jonathan 146 3S7 

John 125 146 

Matthew 146 

Nath. 270408 

Samuel 146 269 
Emer>' 276 

Anthony 693 

Edward 177 

George H. 693-694- 

Ichabod 693 

James 693 



668 



Emt-ry, Job 69^ 
.lohn ,67 

•.mmnns, Jo«pK .J4 

Lnablin>; Act 610 

Endicntt, John 38 54 55 74 i6j 

Koch 55 
•,snBi.i>263 473 

Lnglaii(l2o23 27-jo 3 J 383940- 
42 46 49 5' 63 64 67-69 71 81 
S2 9697 103-107 lis 117 "' 
125 12S-130 13S 152 165 175 
17S 179 iSi 194 198201211119 

220 223 225 230 215219250251 
262 26s 272 251 2.'i2 2S<, 2.>S 347 

35' 352 356409424441 457469 
4S04S3 4S7 4»S4<;o 507 519 S3J 
535 544 572 575604631 66!i 
English 20 31 67 79 S0-.S4 88 8q n5 
117 uS 129 132 133 152 15J158 
159 161 197 19S 203 205223236 
. 229231 235 241-244 247 248151 
252289298326358376378380 
392 452 454 4»» 517 521 530594 
William 48 74 
Turnpike Act 462 463 
Englishman 79 82 88 363 426 639 
67. 
Enms633 

Episcopacy 71 280607 
Kpjscopal_5Si> 
Episcopalian 139 281 457 
EiMiNG 195 394 485 49° 5=' 51S 
5.39541 592 654 667 66S 
Ei'soM 140 164 173 206211 336337 
338406455494601635 
Erie, Fort 501 505 
Ekrol 536 
Es,^ex 106 573 
Co. 66 176324 
Institute 202 
Established Church 32 43 49 139 
140 17S 186 26c 
Esterbrook 207 
Estow, Wm. 48 74 
Eastwich 1 28 
Phesant 423 
Europe 20 21 31 68 173 191 198 
383456507531608 
European 82 
Executive Council 419-422 

EXETBR 38 41 42 43 45 49 5° 53 
54 55656669 70 76 84 8s 9J 
94 95 100 102 107 108 113-11S 
117 11912914417117217417s 
195 197211 255256268286312 
314 316337342343347349350 
358 361 366 367 368 369 371 371 
373 375 376 377 381 387 3S8 394 
412413 416418421422428431 
433 4.38 444 445446447448450 
456 466 481 482 501 512 540541 
592 617 633 545 664 666 674 676 
693 

Academv 624 653 664 665 667 

England 22 24 

News letter 655 

River 72 
Evans, Benjamin 162 

Edward 263 

Goodwifc 57 

Ira C. 627 

Israel 167 

Jonathan 

John 99 162 535 

Judge 4S6 

Robert 99 

Simeon 535 

William 161 



Fabitis, George 99 

Jno. 99 
Fabyan 669 670 
Factory Village 257 
Fairclnld, Joy H. 70 -- 

Fairfield, Walter 263 
Fair Uaks 615 620 
Falconi (ship) 324 
Farley 213 262 51S 632 
Farmer, John 21 33 95 ii.| 142 263 
264 208 650 
Farmer's Magazine 25S 
Farmiiigtou 279 302 619 620 632 
O54 693 

& Rochester R. R. 574 
Farnsworth 177 2^1 

J. D. 263 

Stephen 207 
Farr, E. W. 615 626 678 

George 627 
Farrar, Jacob i$(> 159 

Joseph 156 

Stephen 275 

Timothy 514 
Farwell2i3 2S0 



:335 



Joseph 156 158 15., 161 335 
Josiali 154 
Fast 498 505 

Mail 217 
Fay, Joseph 3S7 

Solomon Paysoil 70 
Fayes, John 135 
Fearing, Hawkes 624 
Febiger 330 

Federal Constitution 165 

Federalist 407 412 416 421 422 429 

447 452 45'> 4'>5 466 470 474 479 

481 484 485 4S8 490-492 49S-500 

505 507 508 510511 521 524538 

586 

Fellows, E. Q. 61S tz'i 



:435 



Stark 62S 
Fenton, John 350 
Fernald, John 204 

Renald 47 53 58 70 

Fesscnden. Col. 5S., 

William P. 630 
Field 22ft 

of Mars. 543 

narl.y 30 37 48 632 ("("J 

Fieid-d'rivers 309 
Fields, lames T. 204 
Fifield 464 

Beiij. 97 134 

lonn 133 285 

Sterhen 3S8 

William is 97 
Fifth Re'jt, 617 620 621 622 630 
Fifteenth Regt. 628 630 
FichtinK Fifth 621 
Filbrook, Tno. 133 
Fininff Indians So 
First Bap. Ch. Concord 259 526 

Battery 619 630 

N. E.'Cav. 629 630 

Re'jt. ''■•29 630 644 
Fish.'Elijah 277 
Fisher, Jabez 212 

John 143 206 
Fisher's Island 194 
Fishkill 393 
Fisk, Francis N. 539 

Frank S. 613 615 



Fisk, Wilbur 45S 
Fisk's Hotel 540 
Fitch 297 

John 71 
Fitchburg, Mass. 366 678 
Kitts, Abraham 270 
Fitzgerald, 632 633 
F1TZWILLIA.M 290291 332 334 342 
— 366 
Five Nations 348 
Flagg, Eben 147 

James 3S9 

Lieut. 113 
Flanders, David 341 

Jacob 388 

Joseph 526 
Fletcher, Ebenezer 588 

i;eneral 436 

Hiram Adams 58S 

Jno. 100 

Kimball B. 588 

Wllli,,m 57. 
Flint, Klienezer 197 
Klnod ,,32 

Ploricia 230 2O2 611 619 624 
Floyd, Capt. 113 
Flynn, Jacob 633 

M. O. 644 
Fogg, Geo. G. 592 

Jeremiah 181 

Samuel c}j 
FoUett, Nicholas 107 
Folsom or FoUsham, Deborah 447 

Ephraim 98 

John 98 208 

Nat 98 

Nathaniel 316 333 342 352 353 

367 368 370 37' 372 377 3S1 418 

419447 

Peter 98 

Peter L. 25S 

Samuel 98 372 375 
Fort Ann 289 

Dummer 206 207 220 

Duqiiesne 230 231 236 245 

Edivard 233 234 243 424 

Fisiher 619 620 624 

George 346 

Gilman 620 



Ha 



1626 



Hill S3 
MaLTuder 615 
Marion 619 
McClary 491 504 
Point 293 
Sullivan 316 
Sumter 692 
Wagner 619 
Washington 316 
Wentworth 234 

William and Mary 297 298 316 

34' 353 359 3*7 4i2 

William Henry 237 239 241 244 



Foster 307 308 389 
Abiel 403 421 439 
John 108 
John G. 307 692 



=45 



Mo 



5 235 



Obediah 

Perley 307 

Robert 303 

Stephen S. 5S2 583 584 5S5 
Founds, Phil 100 
Fourteenth Regt. 616 627 630 
Fourth Regt. 616 6iS 619 620 629 
636 644 

Turnpike 576 
Fowler, Asa 659 660 674 

Library 660 



Fowler, Ludwig 100 
Fox 293 

Daniel 433 

G. B. 541 5S4 

G. V. 68: 

John 259 301 

Point. 1 13 
Foy, John 632 

France 20 64 80 no 19S 200 205 
211 220 230 248 281 402 497 49S 
301 
Franxestown 540 633 654 
Franconia 18 279 669 
Franklix 228 234 284 285 35S 553 
. , 555 595 620 654 679 693 
Franklin (ship) 614 

Benjamin 425 

& Bristol K. R. 574 

Dr. 425 

Mountain 670 
Frayser, William 135 
Frazer,_ General 387 
Frederick of Prussia 353 
Fredericksburg 621 623 625 627664 
Free Baptist 290 393 527 528 536 
Freedland 487 
Freedom 654 
Freeman, Edmund 264 

Edward 494 

Frederick 389 

Russell 456 462 
Fremont 197 279 

J C. 607 

Free Soilers 593 594 605 607 646 

659 

Freetown 144 148 149 

French 172022 7989 log 115 117 

118 136 139 152 153 162 171 173 

199 200 202 205 208210212 215 

223 225 228 239 241 245 247 248 

251 252 2542S02S428828933S 

348 354 396 408 413 455 487 48S 

5°7 53' 554567633 

Canadian 637 

Revolution 456 634 

D. L. 212 213 

John 133 154 

Joseph 413 

Nathan 210 

Nicholas 269 
Frenchman, Jno. 100 
Frlsbie, Levi 51S 
Frontenac 230 245 
Frost 68; 

Capt. 88 

George 420 

Jno. 99128210 

Frothmgham 322 32S 339 
Foye, Caleb 167 

James 159322 331 34034' 

Jonathan 156 
Fryeburg 157 535 
Fryer, Nathaniel 76 104 107 loS 122 

.2S 129 

Fullam, Jacob 156 158 

Major 15S 
Fuller, Giles 48 

Heniy W. 612 628 

Jonathan 3S8 

John 97 

Wilhnm 48 74 97 
Fullerton, J. E. 255 457 
Furber, Anthony 100 

John 290 

William 4S 76 99 loS 
Fumess 613 
Furrall, Thos. 47 
Fursen, Thomas 135 
Gaffney, C. B. 627 
Gage, Abner 337 



Gaje, Charles P. 613 

Genera! 293 319320 
Gams, George 407 
GalL', Amos 251 

Kliplialet 285 

John C. 236 
Gallinger, Jacob H. 671) 6S1 
Gardiner 330 332 

Alexander 62S 

Bay 501 
(Garfield, James A. O74 
Garland, Jacob laS 

Jon. 97 

Trne 613 
Garrison House S5 112 

W. L. 572 SSS 
Garvin's Kails 169 5/) 
Gass, lohn Goo 
Gataiibis 248 
Gales, James M. 592 

General 345 3S5 3S6 390 391 3 
Gaiuly 436 

Gaiilt. Jesse 600 

Patrick 632 
Gava/.zi Kr, 635 
Gay House 473 
Gavles, Mark 99 
Gaz.ette, N. H. 395 
General Court, Mass. 50 5" 52 
54 5^^ 59 ('o 62 64 65 66 71 
74 76 81 163 16S iSo 222 3 
27' 372 ; 
of N. H. 95 iSo 197 211 231 ; 
308311 312 313 394 404^05^ 
414 415 441 453 4S'>459 5" i 

George 11. 



111. 



I 2S1 



.352 516 519 534 578 
David 462 
John 539 
John H. 613 6S7 



Germantown 354 
tJermany 68 4S7 
Geriish, Capt. 302-304 3,30 33= 

Jiio. 99 107 loS 122 130 

-Stephen 177 

William 74 

Place 454 
Gerrv 426 
Gettysburg 6i6 621 
5hent Treaty 505 
Gibbons 632 

^ Ambrose 35 47 52 53 76 
^ibralter 199 
Gibson 143 

Kliiabeth 2S9 

John 600 

j. B. 524 

Richard 5S9 

Samuel 2S7 2.S9 
*;iddings, Eliphalet 375 
GIflord, William 99 
Gilbert, I. 464 

Samuel 276 
Gilchnst, Justice 5S5 
:56 25S 



t Ho 



5340 



Gill, Tho 
Oillis, Jotham 533 
Giliinor, lames 142 
Gilman 484 685 

Robert 142 

Daniel 445 .146 449 450 

Dilia 677 

Kdward 98 444 

Emerson 677 

I'orl 620 



Gilman, General 345 421 444 .145 

Harriet L. 67S 
John 66 94 9S , 
John Taylor 17- 

433 444446 41, 

4904964984)1511, 5,,; , . ; ,< 

, , 552 S^> 5;o 

Joseph 371 373 375 400 
Joshua 74 256 
Moses 98 677 
Nathaniel 433 446 447 44,, 
Nicholasi 176 361 369 370377 iSi 
422 433 44 :. 4(6 1 1 1 1 ,-4 



Pete 



445 



Thom.as 367 v - 

Tristram'270 

Virgil C. 677 

25S 26G 407 445 454 45>, 5,. 
634 (,5, OS, 

Academy 257-259 

Corner 257 480 569 

CJazette 253 
Gilmore, James 196 

Joseph A. 629 672 674 687 
Gilson, John 208 20.J 

Josepli 156 159 
Gii.suM 276 277 279 3S8 391 
Glas:.;ow, Scotland 393 

(Ship) 323 
Glastonbury, Conn. 276 544 
Gledon, Charles 98 
Glocester, M.ass. 144 
(Mover, Henry 337 
Goddard, John 47 135 455 456 465 
47" 499 
Godfrey, Edward 35 

Most 



; 97 128 



i 290 

William 12S 
Godfree, Isaai 

Jon. 97 

Thomas 97 
Goe, Henry 47 

Kalph 47 
(joffe, .\ntliony 98 99 

Jolin 63 1.^2 229 305 
Goff's I'alls 476 504 

GOFFSTOWN 2t6 263 264 33S 3S6 
541 634 647 

Golden Gate 639 
tJoodell, David 414 520 
Goodhue 2i2 

Goodwin, Ichabod Goo 60S 609 612 
613 647 
Gookin S3 

Daniel 504 

Nathaniel 69 
Gordon 279 32? 

Alexander 98 

Matthew D. 212 
Gore Hall 201 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinand 23 24 26 29 
33 34 37 39 5" 6367 "23 

Thomas 37 
GoKHAM 534 

Nathaniel 399 
Gosport 211 
Goss, Richard 388 

Robert 132 
Gotham 306 
Gould 276 

James 387 
Gove, Ebenezer 133 283 38S 

Edward 95 97 101 io2 103 io8 

lohn 1-,! 



iraliam. Hu|;h 1,/. 

John 3J6 

Uoht. ,47 

Willi.uii 147 
.-.raiiilc .Monthly SS ]i«S;*''S5M 



-r "'* 
.lai.t. (. .,1. 247 249 

Daniel 3SS 

U. S. 3^5 014 621 623053657 
.ray, Harrison 449 

Ion. 315 

Mary 1.. 449 

Nuns 638 

William tyq 

'.R.\NT11AM 263 458 
t irciiil 261 
;r.ucs. S.miuel ,42 
.1^.11 li.iy 173.324572 115 ij6 
Hride.e 391 
Unlaiii 1 78 197 
299 318 349 
373376377 1 

Falls 2o6 219 57^ uv'i '1 1 '7s ■- 



House 34 

House Patent 73 

Island 35 66 (>8 93 9.1 104 105 loS 

„ . "25. '34 3'7 

Metiaow 206 207 214 221 

Se.ll93 

Spirit 83 
Greelev 211 

Dr. hs 

Horace 520 629 630 

Joseph 335 

Snmucl 272 

S. S. N. 250 
C.reely Kxpedition 687 
Green, Abraham 97 

Henrv 97 122 

Housi 524 

Is.aac .33 

Jiidee 461 

Matlian .33 

Mountains 399 436 

Peter 405 

Thomas 336 
Greenfield, Samuel 48 53 
Grp-bsi-and 45 S9 125 131 132 163 
404 -tSS 504 5^0 
Greenleaf, Capt. 1 13 
Grcjij;. Andrew u/> 

David 195 

Hugh 265 

James 142 

John 142 195 
Gregorian Calendar J19 120 

Rule 219220 
Greing 633 

Gridley, Richard 332 323 331 
Griffin 634 

Mrs. 261 

S. G. W)! 622 623 
Griffin's Falls 476 
(Jriffith, David 100 
Griswold 472 

Bishop 5S9 590 
Grosse Island 63O 
Groton 387 

Mass. 1^6 177 
Grout. Eh)ah 408 
Grovcr, Beniamiti6i3 



Gubbtail, Thos. loo 
Guinlon 633 
Gulf of Mexico 230 
Gunnison, John 197 
GuDstock, Hrook 258 
Gunthwait 275 
Gurnsey 276 
Gustine, Jolin 259 
Samuel 259 260 

Hackett, James 373 

W. H. y. 542 651 
Hadley 177 

Amos 653 O67 
Haddock, C. B. 653 
Hadduck, William 284 2S5 
Hagkins 110 
Haile, William 600 607 
Haines 276 

Matthew 132 

William 132 
Hale 455 

Enoch 407 436 

John 4S 7(, 338 3% 455 

John P. $i/i 595 605 606 613 687 

Moses 140 147 

Ralph 48 9S 98 

Riclmrd 275 

Salma ^60 b^i 

Samuel W. 67S 

William 4SS 524 
Hale's Bridge 454 
Haley 634 

Thomas 632 
Hall, Councillor 490 536 

Daniel 629 664 



Hen 



146 



Jolin 99 146 
Joseph 99 lot 
J. S. 071 
Kinsley 98 129 
Nathan 99 
Kathaniel 146 
Ralph 98 
Rev. 270 
Samuel 9S 
Hall's Stream 18 



Tav 



1 301 



Hallet, George 562 

Halif.ix 23S 292 293 335 35= 50' 

Hallowell, Me. 



Robt 



424 



Ham. Jn ,, 

John 257 

Joseph 153 

William too 
Hamilton, Alexander 452 



= 452 



Hammond, G. W. 600 

Isaac W. 395 459622 651 
Hampshire, Eng. 23 79 100 

Grants 220 
Hampstead 213 269 333 413 654 
Hampton 38 42 48 49 50 52-54 56 
59 (xS 61 66 69 70 74 84 89 93 94 
95-97 101-104 107 108 117 iiS 
128 129 133 143 146 147 163 17S 
i8oi8i2ir 268 2S4 345 348 388 
457466617 
Falls 133 144 146 17S iSo 29S 347 
348 379 382 422 446 5S0 592 
Marsh 53 
River 60 61 
Hancock 654 
John 377 426429469 
W. S. 62t 
Hanoveh 250 254 263 264 454 4SS 
464517 519 
Hanson, Isaac 98 
John 155 



Hanson, Thomas 99 

Timotliy 99 

Tobias 99 113 

Widow 98 
Hapi;ood, Charles E. 621 622 
Hardy 213 

Jno. .00 

Thomas 337 
Harford Will 99 
Harkness, John 334 
Harriman 464 

John 263 

Walter 433 626 651 652 653 
Harper, John A. 489 

William 142 
Harper's Ferry 585 
Harris 276 

George 263 

Joshua 263 

Judge 464 558 

Nicholas 99 

Sarah 291 

Silas 435 
Harrison, W. H. 540 57S 
Harrison's Landing 621 
Harrytown 149 
Hart 633 

Oliver 524 

Hartford, Conn. 447 506 507 

Harvard College 54 55 67 7087 127 

■33 "47 '59 "64 17- 297 300 322 

34S 35' 352 359 360 420470 4S1 

515 604 6S5 

Law School 661 686 
Harvey, Hannah S. 55S 

James 142 

John 142 

Matthew 558 559 657 

Peter 100 

Thomas 100 
Harwood, John 156 158 
Hassell2i2 
Hastings 177 

James 389 
Hatcher's Run 623 626 
Hatfield 177 
H.athorne, Wm. 54 57 
Hatteras 20 

Havekhill 277 278 279 396 407 

42S 450 461 491 523 577 587 588 

654 

Mass. 505366 115 133 144 145- 
147 156 iSi 197 216 227 263 275 
340 461 
Haven, N. A. 650 
Hawke 264 285 389 458 
Hawkins, James 99 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel 640 
Hawaiian 520 
Hayes John L. 592 

R. B. 657 678 6S5 687 
Havnes, John 587 

M. A. 617 
Hayward, Sylvanus 276 391 

William 48 52 53 74 
Hazen Bill 691 

Richard iSS 
Hazelton, Ephraim 146 

John 146 

Peter 526 

Richard 146 



Tho 



146 



Hazzard 2 
Head, James 672 

Nathaniel 439 

Natt 613 672 673 

O. N. 616 
Healey 632 

Captain 644 

Samuel 134 



Healey, William 146 
Healy, Bishop 645 
Heard, John 48 99 111 
Joseph 207 



'53 



Heath 473 

General 364 

Nehemiah 134 

Willi,im 75 
Heavy Artillery 629 630 
Hebron 576617 

Conn. 276 279 280 519 
Hedding, Elijah 458 
Heights of Abraham 404 
Helm, Christopher 48 
Hemphill, Nathaniel 196 
Heiideison, S H. 624 

William 99 
Hendrick, Laniel 48 
Hennikee 285 287 337 338 408 604 
654 



iryVIII. 2068 

aid of Freedom 572 582 5S5 



Herd, Benjai 

Thomas 47 
Herrick, M. A. 591 
Herron, John 301 
Hessian 553 554 
Hibbard, David 689 

Harry 686 

Jedidiah 264 
Hieringen 553 
Hiland, T. 383 
Hildreth 276 
Hill 526 

Benjamin 146 147 290 
Charles 264 
George 473 

Isaac 4S0 511 539552 566574 5 
t 
James R. 693 
John 2S7 458 
John M. 689 
Parker 333 
Valentine 54 56 76 

HlLI-SBOROUGH 167x762542873 

332 338 3S7 388 40S 4 1 1 420 4 

494 499 5o55'9 527 55° 552 5 

600 654 £ 

Bridge 288 668 

County 285 287 

& Peterborough R. R. 574 
Hilton, Edward 24-29 31 34 35 4 
48 52 76 98 I 

Grant 45 71 73 

Head Island 61S 619 

House 113 

Joseph 388 

Martha 192 

Patent 4043 4546 71-74 

Samuel 98 

William 24-29 31 48 52 76 98 

Winthrop 117-119 174445 
Hilton's Mill 98 

Point 26 29 44 .46 73 74 
Hilyard, Benjamin 134 

Timothy 97 
Hinckes or Hincks, John 104 i 
106 122 128 1 
Hinds, Jacob 334 
Hinesburg, Vt. 678 
Hinsdale 206 208 210 211 220 3 
607 60S 6 
Historical Society650 
Hitchcock. C. H. 20235 

Rnswell D. 70 
Hobbs, Capl. 210 

Harvey 99 



j.y/)/:.\: 



Hobbs, Jonathan 97 



M 
Neh. 



Hobart 333 

Isaac 340 
Hodge, Wiliiam 132 
Hodgcdon, John 210 
Hogan 634 635 
Hos-constabk-S3ii 
Hos-,.:eves3„3,2 
Hcsc. John 216217 

William 142 
II<.ii2,,o 

C. N. l)7S 

liphraim 134 

SlupheiujS 
Udl-DnRNESs 263 299-301 393 394 
4(>o 6" 633 634 654 663 673 <'74 

Kdvvard 100 
Stephen 372 
Max 235 
Hoi.l,ts 5766112 167 212 340 34; 



athar 



142 



Samuel 1^2 
Hoh's Rocic 144 
Holy Cross College 626 645 
Hook, Jacob 264 

HooKsiLTT 145 216 477 510 339 596 
671 OSS 
Falls ,39 
Hooper, iohn 334 

WiilLim 471 
Hopkins, John 142 ig6 197 

Solomon 142 
HOPKINTON 206 207 215 216 2S0 
33S 464 465 4S6 55S 559 568 617 
624 634 654 660 6S5 
Horn, William 99 
Homer, Thos. 142 
Horse Hill 141 

Horse Shoe Pond 154 396 464 
Hou^b, George 444. 
HouSe of Correction 312 
of Representatives 347-349 363 
376 37S 395 401 403 407 4'3- 
417 419-421 432 437-439 441 
449 462 465 466 470 471 526 528 
534 546 559 S^iS 577 585 651 
Houston, John 239 241 

Samuel 142 
How, Daniel 207 
Nehemiah 207 
Howe, B. 3S7 
Generaj_250 3.8 320 325 329 335 

Howland 276 
Howlet, Davis 391 
Hoyt, John 524 
Hubbard 24 26 27 28 30 

Henry 5S5 5S6 

Isaac 0. 599 

Iohn 585 
Hubbarton, N. Y. 386 3S9 
Huckins, Jno, ,00. 
HunsoN 66 141 211 212 334 335 

River4i 64233 3'4 3S7 473 

Iohn 99 
Husen. Nathaniel 132 
Hu-er -172 
Huqsins. Iohn 4S 
Hushes. John 424 
Hull. Reuben 100 
Humphrey, William 142 



Hunckins, Francis 100 

Mark 100112 
Hunking, Mark 96 

l_luiil, George 99 

Thomas 23 
Hunter, David 142 
Huntington, J. H. 229 
Huntley, C.alista M. 261 

lOislia 262 

Nathan 259 260 

Russell M. 262 
lluntoon276 

Josel>h 3SS 
Huvd, Isaac 70 

Samuel 264 
Hussey, Christopher 48 69 74 94 



John 97 
Huske. Iillis424 
llutchins, .Abel 59 

Kphrai,,, 595 
.orclon 337 

llezekuh 333 



95 



■34 



Huttiunson, James 334 

I homas 1S2 
Hyde, Levi 264 



Illh 



s6ii 6S5 



linb 

luce Jonallian''w 115 
ludepeiuleuce Mount 365 
Independjut D 667 
'"<ha393 ^zo 

Indian 17 21 23 24 27 28323536 

37 41 42 56 57 64-67 69 71 77- 

94 109 110-121 125 131 132 136 

138 139 141 146 151-15S 160 161 

163 164 169 171 173 178 179 199 

205207-215217 219221223 225 

227-229231-235 241 243-249251 

254256272278280283289304- 

i"f> 354 355 357 383 396 398 399 

435 445 49' 5"7 519520531 535 

^, . . 554 570 575 587 tos 632 

Christians S3 

praving Si 

Stream 570 575 586 588 618 
War 110 122 125 212 221 
Inferior Court .3_5o 498 
Ingalls, Benjamni 535 
Daniel SSS 
Mehitable 143 
Moses 536 
Robert F. 535 
.Samuel 144-146 148 
Insane Asylum 56S 
Ipswich, JVIass. 49 52 195 215 
Ireland 96 138 140 147 17S 187 195 
196 215 229262 2S1 287 295 356 
35S 408 419 457 481 631-633 
, . . „ 655 '^40 

Insh 138 139 140 229 356 35S 626 
633 634 638 640 641 643 645 
Catholic 635 640 642 
Cehs 1 38 
in N. H. 631-645 
Irishman 358 
Iron Works 257 259 
Ironsides 139 
Iroquois 34 
Isle of M, 247 

Isles of Shoals 21 34 60 94 351 
Israel's River 22S 305 
lt,alians2o 
llalv 262 4S7 



Jackman, Michael yr, 
JACKSON 669 
Jackson 128 

Andrew 330 335 501 508 S41 55 
5SJ 5''4 5". S70 574 575 ,i 

C»l 330335501 508541 

-Hall 43, 

John 30 ,00 

I. H. .„s 

)<irl,,,r,l „v, 

S.ii,,l, ,,. 

n 



>Pl>i 023 



M 

.I'^l;^ ., 

Jacob, lluiij. 97 

Iohn 97 
Peter 301 
Thomas 97 
jAiFKEV334 4o8 46a654 
128 

James 1. 22 23 29 33 
I. ,05,10467631 

rra,icis ,44 

Hugh 47 

Island 6,8 

]ames W. 592 

Klver6,5 62i 
Jameson 276 

William ,91. 
Jamaica 105 354 
Japan 514 jii 
Jarvis' Hill 28, 
.lefferds. Forest ,95 
jKKraHsoN 279305346 

Mt, 670 
, Jhom.as 419 470 474 479 541 
lefts, John 156 ,58 
Jenness, H. W. 600 

Francis 97 

Jon. 290 

John S. 26 30 43 71 163 
Jerry's Point 317 
Jessiiman, 276 
Jesuit 152 
Jesuitical .So 
Icsus College 71 
Jewell, Joseph 100 
Jewett 113 276 

Samuel 257 270 273 
Jilley, Paul 433 
Jocclyn 35 

Henry 37 39 47 

John 37 

Andrew 606 

Ebenezer 132 

Edmund 48 

Edward 54 56 

Ichabod 156 15S 

James 47 97 132 135 

Jesse 263 

John 132 

Josi.lh 156 

Mrs. 557 

Noah ,56 159 198 

Reuben 0. 576 577 

Samuel 290 

Thomas 48 

William ,87 231 233 234 
John's River 22S 305 307 
Jonathan (Ship) 25 27 
Jones, Alexander 47 

Frank 676 677 687 

Francis 100 12S 

George 98 

Ja. loo 

John 47 100 

Josiali i5C» 159 161 



Jones, Makiii 99 
Mary Priest 676 

Pclatiah 676 

Samuel 263 

Sarah P. 0S5 

Stephen loS 

Thomas 48 207 280 676 

William 47 -35 
Jordan 128 

Chester B. 67S 
Jose, Jean .00 

Richard 100 126 130 
Josselyn, John 069 
Jonrdain 63 
Journaman, Ditto icxj 
Joy, J. F. 6,2 
Judd 276 
Jiidkiiis, Joel 98 

Leonard 286 
Julian Calendar 219 220 

Kane 632 
Kansas 661 
Kay 276 

Kearsarge 536 614 
Keenborough 197 

KeENE206'220 22I 262 334 38S 389 

391 392 4o3 409 41 1 428 462 53S 
554 565 570 578 579580595 599 
6gS 615 622 623 654678679693 
Annals 366 392 
Raid 391 
Sentinel 5m 
Keep, John 212 
KeiUy 632 

Kelly or Kelley 632 63-^ 634 
P.. 2,,7 
Daniel 632 
Darby 633 
Ephraim 337 



^: 



264 



Kclf-cy, Alexander 142 
Kemp, Reuben 338 339 
Keiithick2i3 
Kendall, F. A. 620 

L. K. 674 
Kene, Nathaniel 99 
Kenilworth 191 
Keniston, Tohn So 
Kennebec River 87 89 114 ; 
Kennebunk, Me, 671 
Kennedy, I.ieut.241 

Nathaniel 181 

Robert 142 
Kenney 633 

Joseph 435 
Kl-NSINCTON iSi 38S 408 
Kent, Chancellor 483 

Emily M. 628 

George 650 

Henry 0. 613 628 

Moody 56S 

Richard P. 62S ■ 

WiUiam 461 548 
Kentucky 623 625 626 643 
Kerch, Heniy 100 
Kerry Conntv 645 
K,"-ves, Solomon 156 t6o 
KVi, James gS 
Kidder, Benjamin 142 155 

Joseph 213 

Reuben 274 

S. P. 5^3 
Kilbnrn 276 
Kilkenny R. R. 574 
Killev M-^ 
Kim.' William 99 
"■ ball 276 



Kimball, Abraham 33S 

Daniel 264 

E. A. 599 

Josepli 303 

Obediah 3S9 

Thomas 86 

Union Academy =64 654 660 
Kimball's Comer 144 
King of England 175 iSo 1S3 185 
iSS r«9 198222233238241253 
265 516 

Philip 5S7 

Philip's War 107 109 117 

William 103 104 129 130 139 143 

in Council 
King Roger 48 ■ 

Samuel 271 409 
Kingman, J. W. 628 
King's Com mission el's 61 65 

Council 221 223 467 

Bench 265 

Bridge 393 

Surveyors 21S 

trees 217 352 531 

woods 177 
Kingsland Creek 627 
Kingston 117 ug 12S 144 154 171 
1782112642S1 3SS42S45045S 
640 654 
Kinliead, Samuel 196 
Kinneston 276 
Kinsman 33S 
Kirk 139 

Kittery, Me. 42 66 76 88 94 135 
u)9 202 203 420 445 

Navy Yard 491 504 

Point 420 
Kittridge Apphia 685 

Jonathan 156 158 172 6S5 

Perry 619 
Knapp 276 
Knight, John 99 

L. M.'62o 

Roger 47 
Knollys, Hansard 41 46 48 71 
Knowles, John 07 

Sir Charles 192 201 210 
Knowlton 290 

Thomas 322 324 
Know Nothing 605 661 
Knox 143 

Anna 672 

Harr>' 399 426 

Timothy O72 
Knoxville, Kv. 626 
Kyle, John 196 

Laconia 34 35 38 256 616 6s4 693 
694 

Company, 29 44 

Grant 26 

Patent 26 45 
Ladbrooke, Thomas 100 
Ladd, Ann 445 

Capt. 229 

Nad gS 

Nathaniel 444 

William 445 

W. S. 656 678 
Lafayette 353 426 544-548 5^4 

George W. 574 
Lake Champlain 230 233 234 237 
242 436 505 

Company 55 

George 233 234 236-23S 241 242 
244 245 445 

Sunapee 469 

Village 55 258 654 655 693 
Lakin, Isaac 156 159 
Lamper-eel River 55 



Lamphier 262 
Lamprey, Daniel 97 

Un 600 

River 87. .3 .7 155 
Lampson, Samuel 176 
Lancashire, Jung. 667 
Lancaster 228 277-279 419 444 
574 5^ 59S 620622 628 654 656 
670 678 

Mass. 324 

Daniel 258 259 270 
Landaff 458 
Lander, John 47 
Landers, J. H. 625 
Lane, John 146 

Sampson 47 
Lang, Robert 100 
Langdon House 677 

James 71 135 

John 262 297 29S 353 368-372 

379 3S1 395 403 407 412 417- 

419421 447448 465 46647' 474 

484 4S8 490 502 677 

Mills 596 

Samuel 71 133 297 298 322 349 

Tobias loS 

William 358 

Woodbur>' 303 406 419 432 456 
Langley, S. G. 616 620 
Langmaid 12S 
Larcy, Cornelius 98 633 
Larkham, Thomas 41 4648 
Larkin, James E. 621 
Liirnard, Col. 386 3S7 390 

Samuel 414 
Latimer, Col. 387 
Latitude of State i3 
Lavosiur 544 
Lawrence. David 98 

Lawson, Chris. 4S 

Samuel 213 
Layton, Thos. 48 
Leach 12S 

Leadder, Richard 50 
Lear 128 
Leary 632 

John 632 
Leavitt, DmUcv 480 

J. A. .00 

Moses «S 407 .; ;9 

Nathaniel 33,^ 

Samuel 98 107 i.:S 

Thomas 48 455 
Lebanon 203 264 t35 436 464 493 
495 517 654 
Lecross, Edward 323 
Lee it? 281 346347433 

Abraham in 

Jason 458 

Jesse 444 

R. E. 625 652 
Leer, Hugh 100 
Legatt, John 53 76 
Legislature 93 
Leiehtim (SS5 
Lempsthr 263 462 
Leonard. lohn 489 
Leslie, James 142 
Leverett, John 74 
Leveridge, Wilham 40 48 
Lewis 95 135 195 262 
Lewislon, Me. 536 
Lexington, Mass. 314 315 3iS34o- 
342 363 550 
libby, Jeremiah 425 
Lieman, Ensign 388 
Light, Jno. 100 
Limerick, Ire. 356 



Lincoln, Abrahai: 



541 606 609 61 1 
630652 684 



r.incolnshire, Eii;^ 

Lindsey, James 142 

l.incham, J. C. 619 631 

LingfiL'Id, Edward 156 159 

I.inkfield, ICdward 142 

Linn, Ephralni 100 

Linzee, Capt. 323 

Lisbon 275 276 287 527 5S7 617 

Listen, Nicholas 9S 
Litchfield 141 loS 313 289 

Conn. 540 563 598 
Little, E. G. 212 302 324 331 333 

Harbor 21 24 26 27 29 30 35 

•n 45 57 '25 '9" '93 446 490 498 

504 695 

Littlefield, Edmund 4S 
Gulf Brook 167 

Littleton 302 414 654 O93 

Lively (ship) 323 

LiVERMORE 467 

Livemiore 143 

Arthur 455 4S6 49S 564 674 

Daniel 337 349 3SS 

Ed. St. Loe 439 456 

House 674 

Jonathan 273 274 349 421 

John 299 
Livermore, Mrs. S. 301 

Samuel 299 301 355 357 393 394 
403 4"7,4iS 421 439446451 674 

Thomas L. 622 62 1) 
Livingstone, Chancellor 557 
Livius, Peter 345 
Locke 163 

Sherburne 526 
Lock Street 154 

Lohrer, Theresa 59S 
London, Eng. 22-24 27 3S 94 133 
175 201 202289351353453517 
647 
Bishop of 2S1 
Londonderry 66 13S-143 145 149 
175 17S 187 195 19620621 1 21S 
226 229 239 265 300 301 336 386 
398 405 407 40S 4194S2 525530 
553 564 600 625 632 634 657 
Lonergan 634 
LonE„ C. H. 622 
Ed. J. 502 504 
Piarce 371 375 403 422 425 
Island 70 194 353 354 501 
Island Sound 195 557 
Meadows 145 14S 149 267 
Longfellow 192 552 
Longitude of State iS 
Longstaff, Henry 4799 135 
Lord 21 176 260 558 
Chatham 360 
Halifa.t 202 

Loudon 192 194 236 238 239 241 
245 
Lossing 52S 

Loudon 256 3S9 40S 458 544 654 
Lougee's Pond 257 
Louis XIV. no 117 
Louisburg 199-204 211 230 23S 245 
Louisiana 297 424 519 611 630 632 
667 
Louisville, Ky. 643 
Love, John 122 
Lovejoy 334 619 
Lovers, George 100 
Lovewell, John 149 151 152 154 
156-158 161 167-169 234 306 
398 



Lovewell, N.licnii.ih joS- 
Z.ichcus 228 

Lovcweirsfinvn^li: 



<97 



Low 539 565 593 

J.nn« K. ,,<, 
Losvell, M.i..,. ..3 .,,> .,„, 3,,,.j,3 
I , , , 626 077 (.82 

l.oivi-r .Aslui. I..1 j:o6 207 220 221 

t.:aii:ul.i 5,vx 
Loyalist 201 ;So 
Lubberlaud 115 
Lucey, I- r (.15 
Lufkins, Peter 207 
Lund 213 2S3 324 
Lundy*s Lane 505 5HS 
Lunenburj, Mass. 177265 
Lull, O. N. 624 625 661 
Luther, Martin 68 
Lvford, Stephen 55 
Lv.MAN 263 50& 

Lv.ME 263 

Eng. 4". 
Lynch 633 
Lyndc, David 279 
Lyni>eboroigh 271-273 279 334 
462 
Lyndon, Vt. 689 
Lynn, Mass. 69 163 261 685 
Lyon, James 2S7 

Macaulav, T B. 454 
Mack 262 391 392 
Macoy, Alexander 106 
Maddon 633 
Madison, )ames 4SS 491 

Mount 670 
MagaUoway 536 
Magna Charta 363 
Magoon 9S ?S8'634 
Magrogor, Da.id 239 
.Magruder, Fo,t6i5 






Maliurin, Ephraim 4S9 495 

Mahoska (ship) 614 

Main Street, Concord 249 

Maine 18 24 26 34 51 5i 62 66 77 

79 85 .89 90 105 1 10 1 13 ii8 123 

'53 '62 199 202 203 251 3003.37 

3'5 346 356 393 466491 519 563 

5'5 6i7 643 

Majesty s Council 265 266 

Mailune, Luke 99 

Malone 632 634 

Maloon, NnfhanicI 553 

Maltby, William 323 

Mamaronec 250 

Manahan 633 

JlANtHESTER '4I I49 398 477 553 

557 595-597 59S 600 619 620 

624 625 643-645 648 652 654 

655 659 662 668 674 678-680 

693 694 

Mann 70 143 263 335 340 341 40S 

Mansfield, Mass. 453 
Mansfield 70 225 265 
Manual, John 338 
Maquot Indians 79 
Marblehead, Mass 70 
March 132 213 
Marcy 335 667 687 
M.irian, Jon. 98 

Mariana 23 33 3S 
Market-day ,^6 
Marks, David 290 

335 342 .3S7 3''9 
462 622 654 



Ma 



. 6S1 



Martin or Marlyn 73 76 91 . 



ii;hl.rai6s.. 

., '-'ke 434 437 

.Mas,.n ^S7 335 4oS 
17 24 39 30 jS 42 45 50 541.,.,, 

Jereini.ih 450-452 4:; r 

500511 514 51,, ; 

John 23 24 26 29 V 

<S<7 5' I'i ' 

John Tulton 210 2?.* 

Robert i'ufton 51 07 68 94 ./, .,; 

10/ '22 175211 .|(,U 5,i 

oLasonry 59S 

Mttssabesic 148 

Massachusetts 17 iS 25 2S 33 34 38 
39404649 54-5', "6o-<)'2 64-<>8 
70-74 77-81 S2 »s 89 ^2 9(. 104 
105 107 108 113 117122123 ^30 
'3' '37 '38 '40 141 143 '44 '5i- 
'57 '62 165172 '73 '75-'77'^o 
1S1-1S3 iS4-iS<. iSS 198 199 
204 205 208201313 rift 2n-?2i 

22.1-225250 252 2.5 262 2'.5 2'<. 
26S 2742872.^9 2.,'-- 2/,| io.' JlO 

320 332 333 3,;53;S3.,o3ii-;,, 
35S360372 37"3Sj.3K'3>i- jV' 
411 4'9 420 422 423 4'*.5l .55 
458 466 4f.9 475 4,-9 491 502 rrt, 
515 5'8 519 5JO 5:3 510 S11 
573 5So-5''2 60' 64363' 

Masson 98 09 

Matthews, Francis .j? 48 

Matton, Hiirbeilus 100 

Maud, n.T 



iel6i 

10, Sir Wni. 287 
,esl.OTOU-_-h 287 
leld, David 2S3 
ell, Capt. 323 



Mn 

Tin 

McAdan'is, William 196 
McAllister 143 336 
McCarrill 63, 
McCartv, John 3S9 
McCarthy A32 633 
McC:Iaira'tha:i 633 
McClary 336 337 345 388 403 406 
439 <89 632 633 

Fort 491 504 
McClure 267 2S7 517 
McClintock 132 143 404 655 
McClennen 633 
McCollcy 2S7 2S8 289 
McCollnm Inst. 654 
McConiihic 633 634 
McCormack 'S2 634 
McCrillis. William 337 
McDonald 643 644 
McDonnell 6;3 
McDufTee 142 '44*32 
Mcl'arland 142 167 19S 439 480 50S 
544 569 61J 
McGaffev, Andrew 337 
McOaw 'nslilule 654 
McGec2i3 633 
McC.innis 632 
McOowan 632 633 



Mclirath, Danic-l 339 
McGregiire 141 142 239 
Mclntire 276 
McKeen 138 142 671 
McKenney or McKinney 207 6S0 
McKcon 633 
McLaughlan 337 632 634 
McLenechan, James 632 
McLeod, George 336 
McMalion 632 633 
McMasler, John 303 
McMillan 33S 339 63= ^33 

y 142 148 

r McNeil 142 218 338494 
505 552 632 
McNee 633 

McSweeney, Bryan 633 
Meacliani, Samuel 263 
Mead, Joseph 9S 
Meader, John 99 
Means 70 408 499 633 
Medford, Mass. 134 250 333 339 
341-344 468 469 
Medical College 601 
Mcuilerianean 26S 
Metcha 100 134 
Meloon 128 
Melvin 156 159335 
Wenzies, James 133 
Mercer, francis 100 

MCREDITH 407 

Bridge 155 
Neck 459 

Village 257 2S7 407 569 592 600 
Meriden 264 654 
M^croney 633 

Merrill 163 177 212 589 693 

Merrill's Falls 476 

Merrimack, Town, River, and 

Coimty 17 18 21-24 26 33 34 36 

39 5° 54 57 64-66 119 139 143 

144 152 154 183 184 185206208 

209211 212 223 228 229 234 235 

254 265 266 335 455 468 469 476 
478 479 508 510 542 553 560 563 
56S 575 576 5S0 581 584 596 603 
623 634 647 690 
Merritt, F.henezer 264 
Merrv Mount 28 32 
Mess'er, Moses 535 
Mesandowit 1 1 1 

Meservy or Meserve 211 252 297 
424 
Metcalf, Heniy H. 414427 577655 
657 664 676 6S9 
Ralph 605 647 66r 
Methodist 165 2C0261 277 302 457 
45S 490 505 527 528 559 572 573 
638-659 681 
Melhuen, Mass. 544 
Mexico 599 622 
" ■ 1 War 581 599 615 618 620 



Millvilie 207 543 
Milton 445 654 



, Tho 



Mi! 



:24s 



Mich 

Michilimackinac 248 
Middlebin-v College 578 
Mirklleham 191 
Middleton, Conn. 459 659 681 
Middlesex 66 106 299 324 46S 469 
476477510 560562 



Mil 



19 28 



MlLHORU 66 176 209 272 334 360 

452 453 565 624 625 654 661 
Miliken, Samuel 337 



-., -263 

Mingay, Jeoffrey 48 74 
Minot, Maine 70 
Minot 303 524 594 600 6S7 
Missisquo) Hay 246 
Mississippi River 185 230584611 
625 62S 
Missouri Compromise 513 661 
Mitchell 99 142 181 183 185 188267 
339 471 
Mobile Bay 630 
Moderator 308 
Moffat 207 211 
Mogg 88 

Mohawks 22 79 83 89 IIS I'S 154 
Molloy 633 
Molony 632 633 
Monadnoc 290 291 

R. R. 534 
Moncton, Col. 231 
Monhegan 21 

Monmouth 345 346 359 390 
Monroe, James 507 522 

Mount 670 
MoNSON 57 452 453 

Richard 100 
Montcalm, Gen. 236 239 241 245 
Montelony 229 
Monterey 599 

Mont Vernon 176 334 446462 654 
Montgomery, Alabama 612 
Montgomery 142 336 401 504 535 
Montpelier & W. R. R. R. 600 
Montreal 162 210 230 241 243 247 
249 254 348 501 638 639 
Moody 59 70 73 95 100 104 106 125 
212 257 
Mooney 5S8 633 

Moore 47 98 107 loS 142 145 171 
173 204 211 268-269 271 324 
332 336 337 345 476 539 632 



;, Joseph C. 655 
; Meadows 228 



650 655 



Morey, Israel 263 
Morgan 98 385 3S6 
Morginn, John 134 
Mormon 277 
Morril, David L. 541 544 
Morrill 177 214 333 554 

Amos 337 
Morris Island 619 
Morris 48 370 446 619 
Morrisania 393 
Morrison 142 196 265 481 627 
Morristown 349 354 365 392 
Morrow, John 196 
Morton, Thomas 27 28 32 33 
Morton's Hill 321 
Mosaic Code 467 
Moses, \V. P. 625 
Morse or Moss 100 146 148 212 

Mott 471 

Moulton 48 98 100 128 459 619 
Moulton's Point 321 
Moultonborough 459 592 
Mount Hope 80 

Meri7 28 32 

WoUaston 32 

Washington 20 37 
Mountalonasis 
Moylan 633 
Muchmore, Jno. 100 



Mudgett 257 
Mugridge. J. 



T. 660 



Murphy 632 633 645 644 
Murrey 223 265 633 
Musters 54 543 
Muzzy, John 527 
Mystic Beach 341 
River 321 322 324 325 342 343 509 

Namaska Mills 597 
Narraganset 106 176 
Narrows 316 
Nash 264 303 305 669 
Nashua 65 66 131 154 167 173 208 
340 47S 563 573 609644 654 655 
662 671 677678 692 693 
Nashville, Tenn. 565 
Nassau Hall 299 
Nasson, Richard 98 
Natick, Mass. 80 89 
Native Cattle 34 
Naumkeag 23 
Neaglee, Gen. 615 
Neal 132 4S9 632 634 

Walter 29 35-38 43 46 108 
Nebraska 661 
Needham, Nicholas 48 
Nelson 623 

Matthew 100 
Napoleon 487 48S 493 503 
Nesmilh, G. W. 284 332 341 385 
470 472 475 4S6 534 554 555 595 
613 630 656 
James 142 
Netherlands 40 
Nevada 631 
Nevers, Phinehas 340 
Nevin, Jas. 424 

New Boston 279 338 339 411 601 
634 
New Brunswick 114-557 640 
Newbukv 271 302 405 
Mass. 70 132 144 146 147 175 177 
678 
Newburyport, Mass. 271 303 420 
4S5 580 581 
Newcastle 38 45 102 108 125-127 
■ 32 133 '74 177297381387393 
404 420 423 677 
Duke of 201 
New Chester 526 527 
New Durham 3S9 393 
England 18-633 

England Conference 261 

lingland Indians 109 
New Hampshire 16-6S8 

Club 655 

Gazetteer 268 

Hist. Soc. 55 

Med. Soc. 429 431 432 444 

Named 34 

Patriot 480 484 503 53S 574 601 

Hampton 460 536 569 587 620 
685 

Holderness 459 

Ipswich 278 334 408 532 654 

Jersey 180 181 238 334 392 408 
481 532 

London 194 195 338 594 595 666 

Orleans 230 293 505 O27 628 630 
643 

Plymouth 81 

Windsor 393 

York 51 79 90 106 129 130 141 173 
180 192 195 230 231 239241 24S 
250251 253 342 344 346 355 364 
378 386 3S7 390 393 395 396 399 
412417457473 5"3 55655758s 
592 593 600 635 

York Evening Post 452 

York Med. Coll. 655 



New, Zealand R, R. 574 
Newcomb, Daniel 439 

Gideon 67S 

Sarah L. 678 
Newfoundland 20 23 
Newhall, D. B. 612 
Newickawannock 34 35 -44 So 55 84 
Kewinc;toN45 "i 135279407470 

Newman, Agent 162 
Newmakkk't .73 588676693 
P1KVVPORT263 =64 557 577601 605 
„ , 654655693 

, R- 1- 354 392 



■3 52 



■53 "54 



Sir John 355 
Newtown, Pa. 365 
Jj!'''p™,',3o =3' 236 245 346 504 
Nichol, Col. 407 
Nicholson 471 472 
Nickels, Alex. 142 
Nickson, Col. 324 332 391 
Niles, Daniel L. 590 

Delia \V. vjo 

William \\>. 590 
Ninth Regiment 616 6iS 623-625 
630 
Nipsic (ship) 614 
Nisitissit 312 
Nixon, General 387 
Noble, Oliver 125 263 
Nock, James 153 
Nonconformists 104 
Nooks Hill 364 
Norfolk Connty 43 50 53 54 66 

Va" 626 627 
Normal School 651 
Normaiv Capt. 2.,; 
Nonn.n\jo 
Norn4uS576 
NoiTldgewock II 
North, Lord 317 

Thomas 99 

America 230 235 236 245 247 250 
352 501 520 

American Colonies 2S9 

Anna River 623 

Berwick, Me. 6o5 

Carolina 591 611 622 624 

CONWAV 654 

End 512 

of Ireland 229 

Pembroke i6g 

Stream 272 

Virsinia 22 



Northampton, Mass. 177 197 289 
409 
Northern rvoiitier 233 

R. R. 573 i;76 600 

States 522 " 
Northers 276 

NOKTHFIKLD 222 356 395 45S 553 

572 

Northumberland 228 229 

northwood 2s9 290 344 455 654 

Norton 42 47 134 620 

Norwalk, Conn. 651 

Norway 262 

Norwich University 620 62S 

Conn. 519 
Nott, Handel 213 
Nottingham 143 149 20S 211 272 
290 337 344-346 386 407 455 
491 502 634 

West 212 
Notch uf White Mts. 669 670 
Nova Scotia 180 199 205 352 



259 276 504 S7S (XX, 



650 



Number I'our 206-211 221 278 

Two 221 
Numphoii 83 
Nute 47 48 622 
Nutiield 153 156 530 
Nutt 99 

Mutter 48 76 95 97 99 104 
Nutting, Capt. 323 



Odlin 70 449 619 
Odiorne27 12S 1S4211 316 
O'Donnell, I'r. 644 
ORden 590 

ORdensburg R. R 574 
Ohio 230 371 501 
Olcott, Bulklcy 177 

General 436 

S,amuel 474 

Simeon 407 
Old Colony Club 360 

Bay Colony 267 

Belknap 55 256 

Gilmanton 569 

Hamilton ViU.lge 5S0 

Hundred 145 

North Cll. Concord 165 404 461 
^, , ^ ,_ ,^.?'' 523 559 566 568 592 
Old South Church 5S2 583 
Olicott General 436 
Olive Street Ct. 213 
Olmut?. 547 
Olustee 624 

(^Izendam, Abram P. ^a-j znS 
O'Neal 632 
Oneida (ship) 614 
O'Neil 633 634 



'435 



Orders in Council 4SS 507 
Ordway, Dr. 430 

James 48 
Orford 263 2S1 388 475 6'7 654 
Orphan's Home 607 
Orr, John 526 
Orthodox 71 172 
Osgood, John 4S 
Osgoi^'s Mills 485 
OssiPEE S5 86 8» 155 160 592 

(ship) 614 
O'Sullivan, Philip ^56 
Oswe.!;o 236 
Ottawas 248 
Ottisgg III 
Overseers of Poor, 309 
Oxford, Eng. 49 351 
Oyster River 66 71 8485 108 112- 
114 117-119 153 176 358 

Packer, Thomas 132 211 

Pacific 230 599 

Paddleford, Jonathan 263 

Page 48 97 98 228 241 264 276 278 
339 399 43 ■ 44 1 489 577 685 

Paige 216 282283 2S4 

Palo Alto 599 

Palmer 47 48 97 98 268 270 276 

Palfrey 23 24 666 

Panaway 43 

Panic of 1S57 60S 

Parker 76 12S 143 177 207 264 276 

334 335 376 417 43 1 439 474 475 

482 4S4 524 539 544 566 613 617 

651 689 

Parent's Magazine 25S 

Paris 402 



'■'■"""■'"■'> J3 Si 84 
1 .men ..iv ,35 

'•',"""'" "°. "2 337 3»6 3S7 55, 

James W. 653 

Jo.lb N. 616617 
Paugns 155 '6l 
rAll|.SIIOI<(IUUII 287 

Paupers 309 

Pawluckct Kails 34 83 s^ iS4 186 
188 26c 
(.Ship) 614 
Payne or Paine 53 99 403 434 437 

Peabody ^8 333 407 412 433 565 

Natlianiel373 406413 417418421 
„ , „ , , 422 431 439441 
Peach Orchard 616 
Pearl Street Ch. 213 
Pease 276 

Pearson 623 624 689 
Peaslee, Charles H. 5W 568 
Pciice or Pierce 70 132 143 175 211 
.221 287499502 5.W61S 
Denjamin 439 526 550 551 
I'Vanklin 70 552 577 591-593 597 
S99-601-620 660 637 
Pcavcy, Edward 3S9 
PE1.HAM 141211212337389 
Peniaquid 21 23 37 89 90 114 117 
*74 »77 
Pembroke 156 161 169 172 178 179 
206 235 255 267 336 387 388 
408 413 450 453 458 484 522 
543 544 546 566 568 575 654 
659 672 675 
Pemigewasset 228 436 553 

Penacook 23 81 .86 SS no 5 

117 139 140 162-164 169206222 
229 266 330 654 
Pendergast 632 633 
Pendexter, John 433 
Penhallow J. loS 132 137 153 423 
Pendleton, Brian 54 58 73 77 
Penn, Wil'.iam 632 
Pennichuck 57 65 167 
Peninsular Campaign 615 
Pennsylvania 355 360 383 393 632 
Penobscot 21 88 91 no 113 117 
Pennit» Peter 144 
Pension Act 586 
People 655 

Pepperrell, William 139 194 196 
199 200 203 204 355 360 383 
392 419 420 .159 471 491 
Pepperill, Mass. 322 
Pequod war 40 77 
Percy, General 319 
Perkins 48 97 98 132 134 464 587 
630666 
George H. 630 
Perrv 212 274 501 
4S7 520 



Pen 



s82 



Pest Ho 

Peterborough 264 265 334-336 387 
408 481 578 591 622 633 654 
663 667 69} 
Petersburg 619621-625 627 
Peter 86 89 

the Great 353 
Peters 47 207 369 
Pets 639 

Pet-Webster Place 473 
Petlingill 285 286 335 475 



I'l tiii. Thomas 48 
IVverly47 592 
Phunix Hotel 595 
J'liiladelphia 292 298 314 383 393 
41S 419 421 422 425 449452 SSI) 
557 035 
Philbrick or Philbrook 48 97 98 
117 12S 132 433 473 
Philip. Sachem 79 So 81 Sz 84 86 
Philip's war 7b 77 S3 95 
Phillippe, Louis 426 
Phillips Academy 44S 482 578 665 
675 
Phillips 56 207 372 664-666 
Phipps, Sir William 203 ,206 
Piccioli, Gerouomo 262 
Pickering 47 95 100 107 loS 129 133 
417 439 47° 472 
Pidgin, William 70 

P1EKMONT228 279 

Pi^iiot, General 325 329 
Pi!;wachel 85 86 110 117 155 168306 
I'ike 69 71 264 340 628 664 679 
Piisrinis 44 68 74 139360 
Pillsbur;-, Edmund 2S3 290484571 
573 582 625 
Pinkerlon 143 654 
Piiikham 48 99 
Piper, William 301 
Pipping, Bartholomew 98 
Piscataqua 17 18 20 21 24-30 32-34 
37 43-47 50-54 57-61-63 65-67 
71-74 84 85 8; 94 129 17S 423 
424 426 448 453 456 502 504 563 
5S0 
Indians 40 
Patent 73 426 
Pi«ritaqiioa; 478 
Pi:r .an, William 100 
P— rsBUKG5S6 589 67i 
Pi . 'FIELD 576 654 692 695 
. 5; 9 



Plansawa ifiq 
Pleasant. Mount 670 
Plimpton, I. 1. 619 
Plowden 452 

Piumer, William 195 394 401 402 
411-413 416-418 422-423 432 
433 437 439 442 447 448 455 465 
466 470-472 474 482 484-486 
4S9-491 49S 499 5°4-5°7 51° 
512 520-522 524 525 527 52S 53S 
542 600 650 651 
Plutarch 358 

Plymouth 156 228279300301 350 
428 571 653 654 693 
Plvmouth, Mass. 27 29 32 33 74 iSS 
Eng. 22-25 

Colony 40 63 81 83 loG 
Council 23 24 29 33 34 39 
Pocotaligo 618 6ig 
Point Lookout 616 621 627 

St. Charles, P. Q., 639 
Pnllard2i2 

Polk, James K. S40 577 
Poll Tax 309 

Pomfret, William 48 56 76 
Pomp 249 

Pomroy, Leonard 25 
Ponliac 248 

Poor 316 332 337 340 346 359 368 
370 3S5 3S6 388 3S9 520 535 634 
Pope 68 

GiegorvXnL2i9 



Pope. General 622 
Pope's Army 615 
I'opery 101 139 
Poplar Springs 623 



PUH 



279 



Porinol, Philemon 48 

Port Hudson 625 628 

koyal 118 119618619624 

Porter 163 264 301 535 

Portland, Me. 21 70 300 540 645 

Portsmouth 25 45 56 59 62 65 66 
68 71 72 76 85 89 93 97 101 102 
104 107 108 113 114 119 125 12S 
129 131 137 141 143 146 162 163 
175 178 179 183 184 193 197202 
204 211 214289-291 293 298299 
300302 305 314 316 3'7 345 35° 
357 364 366 367 373 376 37S 3*0 
3S9 394 395 403 405 407 412 419 
420 422-426 428 433 438 444 44S 
450 453 459-458464-466 47047. 
4S9491 496499 501-504 5'o 5"5 
522 538540541 553 566 580 5S5 
591 592 ooS 013 615 618 654 055 
667 674 676 677-693 
Eng. 23 

Portugal 20 178 346 

Portuguese 20 

Potter 36 73 228 264 389 464 570 
599613 627 651 

Potomac 614 616 625 663 

Poughkeepsie 458 

Pounds 310 

Powell, Robert 98 

Powers 212 228 229 304 340409633 

Pratt. Thomas 340 

Presbyterian 70 138 140 147 17' i -? 

186 239 264265 267 2S7 5ii :-'- 
Prescott 128-134 195 2S4 ;.j_' ,_i 

326330-3323403414565'-;.,, 

I Prentice 143 213 290 300 466 
Presson, John too 
Pretender 117 
Priest 276 
Primer 171 
Prince .Albert 345 
of Wales 202 

Princeton, N. J. 239 299 354 371 
45' 557 
Prinp:, Martin 20 
Piitchard 532 693 
Probate Court 376 585 598 
Proctor 143 213 634 
Prospect Hill 331 
Protestant 219 402 640 
Provincial Laws 30S-313 
Papers 38 51 268 651 

^' T, T -5735, jg, 523 

557 



Providence, R. I. 



(ship) 25 27 
Puddington, Robert 47 58 100 
Pulpit Rock 94 1 14 
Punch Brook 2S5 

Puritans 32 41 46 49 68 69 71 72 
140 170 488 
Puritan 45 47 70 73 74 163 
Puritanism 2S7 
Puritan Historians 44 74 
Putney J. 215 216 600 656 

Vt. 607 
Putnam 71 207 214 272 322-324327 
330 33' 353 354 624 

Quakers 49 59 60 63 67 So 82 103 
"7 "53 195 527 
Qualification of Voters 313 
Quampegan Falls 44 45 



Quebec 18 230 246 247 330 345 535 

636-639 

Queen Anne 117 130-134 174 445 

College 481 

street 626 

Q"',?i'--y 196 633 634 

Qulmby 276 554 

RoHv 337 453 
Radchtt, Aiiiie 191 
Kailroaids 574 
Raleigh, Sir Walter 23 38 

(Frigate) 378 
Ralle, Fr. 152 153 
Rambler 95 
Ramsay 328 
Ramsey, Hugh 142 216 
Rand 47 128 163 334 
Randall 128 393 
Randelt, Alexander 142 
Randlett, J. F. 619 
Randolph of Virginia 471 

Edward 67 79 95 96 101 103 



.95 



104 423 



■; Rogers 231-234 236-239 
241-248 250278280302 304363 
399412 
Rankin, James 414 633 
Rano. Elias 339 
Kapidan 621 623 
Rawlins 99 153 
Rawbon 53 207 
Rawbone, George 48 
Ray, Ossian 678 

Raymond 144-146 148 149 26S 279 
281 333 3S0 654 
William 47 
I; r. :.-!-. lohn7i 
ll' iMi's Station 621 
1; I'Lllion 18 277 491 5S3 604 606 
609 1.11 630643 647652668680 

Record Office iSi 

Redman, John 97 

Red River 625 

Reed 133 290 387 

James 290 291 316 323 325 330 

332 333 335-337 341-343 359 

365-367 370 389 

Reform School 647 

Regular Army 494 

Rcid 48 142 336 386-389 395 

Renkin 142 

Repository', N. H. 25S 

Representatives 572 

Republican 412 416447 465 470474 
479 484 49° 498 499 505-50S 
510 511 524 538 558 597 605- 
608 611 614 674 676 

Republic 364 672 

Republican Convention 646 647 

Revere, Paul 298 

Revolution 38 68 iSi 199 201 202 
204 254 255 271 272 274-278 
280 286 288 291 299 301 302 306 
308 313 314 400 401 406-409 
413 414 416 418-422 433 446 
447449451 457 467 481 4S9 496 
505 511 519545551569586604 
605 61S 630 

Rhine Confederation 487 

Rhode Island 61 63 i8o 345 354 
373 375 391 407 4oS 47° 5°* 

Rice 261 264 339 

Rich, Rich. 99 

Richards, Francis 100 177 207 338 
638 

Richardson, Caleb 146 156 159210 
212 262 269 276 



Richardson, Chief -Justice, \Vm 
Richmond iiv, 334 339 335 

Richmond IsKind 37 

Ricker 99 

Ridge Hill 167 

Riedsell, Baroness 3S3 

RlNDCE 287 334 3SS 407 

Rjndge.7SS35 536 

Ripley, T. A. 62S 

Ri.shvorth, Kdward iS 

Ritchie, Alexander 196 

Rivers of N. H. iS 

Robbe, Wra. 365 

Robbiiis 156 15S 159 207 

Roberts 27 41 48 94 99 loo 107 207 

Robeval 20 

Robie 117-132270 

Kobins 276 

Robinson 84 98 125 146 3,6 33S 
339 371 3S7 460 524 654 

Roby 48 97 335 539 

Roche 633 

Rochester 143 148 203 207 210 
211 251 388 591 592 633 654 

n , . , 676 603 

Rockingham Co. ,44 234 2S9 333 
303 39S 406 412421 42945<)4So 
4S1 4S3 4S5 499 514522 541 549 

D 1 V £ urn- 553 675 677 

Rockhef, William 100 

Rockwell, Charles 212 

Rockwood, Ebenezer 431 

Rodgers 142 167 

Roe, Richard 99 

Rogers 70 71 142 214-216 229 249 

Nathaniel P. 571-573''^' ''^'' "'■* 

Robert 215 229 231-234 235 2,7 

23S 241-243 245 24S 250 2S0 

Roiley, Philip 633 302304396 

Koife 198 214 222 225 265 604 

Rollins 199 2S3 3SS 389 430592 613 

Kolunsford 654 

Rood, Henman 25S 259 

Roper, Walter 48 

Rope-walk, South 504 
1 82 219 359 645 



A\7JA.\-. 

Rural -Museum 258 
Russell, Eleater 425 428 

John 264 
Russ. John 176 
Russia 220 4S7 
Rut, John 20 
KutKers College 481 
Rutland, Vl. T77 
Ru:ledi;e 426 

&,,l;J«"i3.i5i2o,4< 
{<>i-satc 464 
Ryswick 117 

S■■'JH■■"^*I?7=55 3■0 3 
bchool Advocate -^50 
Sachem, Philip 79-Si 

Saco 18 82 ,57 ,58 ,6, 202 306 433 

-Sacremento, ship 614 

Safiord, C. G. 259 

Sagadock 24 26 

Sagamore's Creek 114 

Salem 337 38S 619 

Canada 271 272 

Mass. 2352 ,4,20221421651,, 

SauSBURV 284 285 339 464 473 475 

cv 1 ,,524 553 554 576 1)54 

Salisbury Mass. 50 54 60 61 1% 
105,4, 1802,3281-283 
Fort 234 430 



'39 



•«. 187 19<' 19? .-IS 
"9 59J 35' 424 6JJ 



I Sclt 205 JJ4-JJ6 387 S99 6ai to, 
' bll C33 666 991 

VKcnciblcn 496 

.VllKOOK 103 281287 ,47 ,4X588 

,k™.,.,, "» 






M.l>ai!o (ship) 614 
*clwtis 16*) 

v.:es.sioilvllle 61S 
--r..nd chuich oi Kxeter 70 
Kv-Simcnt O15-617 hji 623 6ji, 



tbiu 



k04 



N. C. 



59 



Village 580 5,5 
Salmon Brook 131 154 

Falls iS ,13 35S 
Salter, Titus 364 
Samuel 83 

.Saltonstall, Levcrctl 666 
Sanborn or Sanbounre 97 98 117 
■28 133 134 264 285 3S8 40S 494 
554 (xx>oi3 (.51 

.^ANBORNTOX 141 2S7 3SS-40S it! 

Sanders 48 99 



'35 



Ron 



;2,9 



Romer, Col. 130 
Rosebrook 670 671 
Roswell, Sir Henr>- 33 
Roundheads 74 
Rousley, Robert 99 
Rowau 633 634 
Row 47 97 
Rowe 269 475 599 
Rowland, William F. 70 
Rowley, Mass. 26S 
Rowlens 99 

Roxbury, Mass. 346 650 67S 
Royal Commissioners 73 
I' usilliers 340 341 
George 32S 
Navy 282 594 597 
Province 67 73 92 93 ,63 
Royalists 46 49 74 
Royalton 464 
Royce 259 260 262 433 
Ruggs, David 207 
Rumford 161 164 177 179 207 214 
215221-225235249250265 266 
Academy 603 
Rl-m.vev 226 281 2S7 398 459 568 
Kump Tax 260 
Runners 
Runnels, Daniel 407 



J39 2S7 333 337 45,, 
Sandwich 654 6S5 
Sandy Beach 113 1,4 125 163 
Saratoga 345 346 388 399 
Sargent 48 128 145 1,(6 332 

J. Everett 220 651 660 661 
Sartwell, 0bediah2ii 
Sartwill 177 
Sarsacuss 6,4 
Saunders, William 48 
Saunderson, Robert 48 
Savage 100276283 627 
Savannah, Ga. 628 
Savings Bank 598 
Sautelie 213 

Sawyer 263 264 305 340 341 600612 
„. 627 681 682 

Charles H. 681-6S4 
Jonathan 681 682 
Saxon 138 
race 92 
Saxony 598 

Scammel, Alexander 345 346 359 
360 36S 386-3S9 395 
Scammon, Col. 33, 
Scamon, Richard 98 
Scarborough 89 350 

(ship) 317 
Scheme of History 17 
Schoharie, N. Y. 630 
School 67 309 
Scoffield, John 263 
Scotch 27 138 ,39 ,86 195 196 631 I Sinckler, , 

671 Sinclair 301 65 
-Insh 17 138-142 147 163 170239 Sisvphus474 
39S 439 467 481 525 530 555 564 Six Nations ■., . . 

591 594 601 661 C67 I Sixteenth Uej'iiiicnt 628630 



Seu.ir-s Narrative 535 

^■-iwCtinaii 3ot, 

>^."tcr, Joseph 460 

>cveii days tiuht 01s 020 

.■<LV^ii years war 232 

.^tveiileenlh Regiment 6i66i.'< 6:,. 

.■seventh Regiment 619 624 630 

S.vcrelice, Lieut. 2S6 

Severel, Philip 100 

Sewall, Judge 163 

Seward 100577 58061, 
1 Miackford 9.., ,40 3S9 489 501 
1 Sli.ikers 207 263 
I S|'.i"'lo". George 337 634 

.Miarplelgh, Major ^ 

Sharpshooters 630 
, .Miattlick 20S 
|Sli.iW56 74 9S,34,8,348 43s 

.Miawniul (ship) 61 ■ 

.>li.iy's Rebellion 411 

.•-heale, James 394 423 465 485 510 

I e 5" 

1 Sampson 227 229 230 423 

Shelbukm' 534-536 

Sluller. Willfamlio 

slu-nandoah 62S 

Sheparxi, Samuel 195 197 

Shippard, John 301 
mk 272 

Sherborn, Samuel 97 

Sherburne 47 53 54 58 76 loS 113 

,., . , _ , 'S4 43= 437 465 

Shendan, General 628 

Sherman 50 54 276 

Sherlock, James 104 

Sherwill, Nichol.is 25 

Shields, John 142 

Shillaber, B. P. 31 

Shippcrd, William ,34 

Shipway, John 100 

Shirley, 147 148 ,88 192 199 204 

=M ■ 1 , . w 5 209 233 136 23.S 

Shirley, John M. 453 .02 4664;- 

SI f:',S°Ss'.''S'i:S'6552S5757" 
Shortndge, Richard ,00 
Shrewsbury, M.iss. 24 73 622 
Shurtlcff, William 125 
Shnte 134 ,37 ,38 141 143 "52 '74 
633 
Siblcv. Stephen 576 
Sides, William O. 616 
Sieur dc Villieu 114 
Silver, Dr. 257 
Simon 86 89 
Simonds 14 
Simpson 195 20S 345 337 38S 



Sixth Regiment 622 625 630 
Skillan, Benjamin 132 
SkuUard, Samuel 4S 
Slavery discontinued 53 
Sleeper 98 117 526 527 
Sloane 263 
Smart 98 339 
Smibert (artist) 202 
Smilie, Francis 196 
Smiley, William 408 
Smith 21 23 3S 4S 53 54 7" 76 97 
98 129 146 153 212 213 25S 264 
268 276 284 286 301 38S 407 439 
460 472 481 523 526 624 

Isaac W. 605 657 

Jeremiah 394 432 447 466 46S 

4S0-484 490 498 499 514 524 

527 067 

WUliam 
Smith's Lake 352 
Smollett 201 

Smyth, Frederick 646-650 
Snell, George 100 
Snow, Daniel 388 
Society for Propagating Gospel 
17*^302 

of Cincinnati 555 
Sokokies 306 
Solomon 102 
Somerset (ship) 323 
Somersetshire, Eng. 95 540 
Somersworth 40S 421 
Sonoma (ship) 614 
Sons of Liberty 252 253 
Soper, Joseph 337 
Sonl 365 

Sorrell, Edward 98 
Soucook 179 
Souhegan, East 206 452 453 



Ri\ 






West 167 176 206 212453 
Soule, Gideon L. 666 
South Carolina 248 61 ! 618 

Church, Concord 166 

Hampton 197 281 654 

Mountain 625 

Newmarket 459 

Road, Salisbury 553 

Virginia 22 

Woods, Chester 144 
Southern States 544 
Southerners 5S2 
Soward, Robert 48 
Soweli, Edward 98 
Spafford or Spoflford 181 183 185 
186 197 207 258 279 280 
Spain 20 64 198 267 594 
Spanish 153 197 198487 
Spalding or Spauldmg 143 334 337 
600 68 1 693 

Edward 693 
Sparhawk 446 539 
Sparks Jared 666 
Spencer, Thomas 47 
Sperry, Ebenezer 213 
Spikeman, Captain 241 243-245 
Spooner 276 

Spottsylvania623 625 626 
Springfield 392 473 
Spruce Creek 66 
Squamscott 29 41 665 

Falls 72 73 

Patent 72-74 
Squando 82-84 9° 

Augustine, Fla. 619 624 
St. Clair Flats 575 

General 392 

Croix 1 1 7 

Francis 84 118 169 227 229 245 
277 398 587 



St. GeorjiL- =48 -nS 
Helena 17S 
Jamc-. >u. 540 
Johns 20 114 194 249365 
Johns, N. B. 640 
Joseph Seminary 645 

230 246 247 469 636 639 640 

Mary's School 674 

Patrick 634 

Paul School 601 606 607 654 
Stagpoll, James 99 
Stamp Act 252 253 332 424 
Standish, Miles 38 
Staniels, Rufus P. 627 
Stanstead, P. Q. 284 
Stanton, Secretary 606 
Stanyan 53 74 95 97 133 1S2 1S3 
Starbuck, Edward 54 76 
Stark 281 

Stark 142 216 398 400 433 439 484 
530 545 5(>3 596 

George 243 341 364 3S2 39S 476 
556 560 613 

John 217 226-22S 231 237 241- 
245 289 302 304 316 322-325 
329-332 335 336 338-343 345 
346349352 353 364365 36S370 
372 382 3S3 385 390-393 396- 
400 412 419 447 4S4 533 545 
„ . , „ 556 563 654 

Stark's River 22S 
Starkstown 398 
State Constitution 165 486 

Council 372 * 

House 512 539 551 566 612 614 

Line, Mass. 141 

Paper Office 103 

Piison 489 494 565 582 656 673 

Senate 415-418402 420-422 438 
462 465 466472 4S4485 501 520 
528 546 574 597 598608651 668 

Treasurer 651 
Staten Island 354 302 393 563 
Statesman, Concord 539 655 
Stavers, Barthol 426 

John 426 
Steadman 328 
Stearns, Onslow 656 657 
Steele, John H. 552 591 

Thomas 142 
Sterret, David 526 
Sterrett 142 

Stevens or Stephens 99 100 153 
163 177 181 195 207-211 275284 
532 575 591 612615C27 
Stevenstown 228 284 285 489 495 
Stewart 98 142 196 [553 

Stewartstown 489495 
Stickney 207 214 3S3 
Stillman 76 94 100 loi 104 loS 12S 
Stillwater 345 
Stinson 216 117 265 398 
Stockbridge, Mass. 519 
Stockwell, Emmons 278 
Stoddard 209 

Colonel 177 
Stokes, Isaac 99 
Stone 262 334 3S8 417 689 
Stone's Pond 262 
Stoney Brook 272 

Point 330 346 
Stoors, Constant 462 
Storer 4S5 627 
Slorre, Augustus 48 
Story 129 130 133 514 540 
Stoughton 52 66 67 
Strafford 654 

County 254 257 358 420 421 499 
55i 



Strafon 632 
Stratfokd 279 422 

Conn. 194 
Stratham 146 606 
Straw, E. A. 658659681 
Strawberry Bank 34 35 42 43 46 
47 50 53-56 7»-74 76 94 
Streeter 276 
Strickland, Fred 671 
Strong, Governor 506 
Strongman, Henry 633 
Stuart, John 

Sturtevant 612 620 622 628 
Sudbury 338 
Suffolk 1^ 
Suffolk County 67 
Sullivan 276 356 361 562 574 632 
633 634 
County 585 605 
Fort 496 504 

George 504 514 569 633 667 
James 356 469 510 561 562 
John 262 297-299 334 344 346 
352-359 364 365 367 368 37S 
381 391 394403 409410412413 
416 418 419 426428432 566 568 
SuUoway A. W. 687 627 

Sumner 276 280 464 
Sumter, Fort 579 612 692 
Suncook 139 140 168 169 170 172 
176 178 179 198206208265266 
267 4S4 545 574 
Sunderland, Mass. 177 
Superior Courts 348 393 407 409 
420 423 455 482 498 533 538 568 

Supreme Court 406 422 419 436450 

451 456469 47' 486498499512 

5'3 516 521 526 540550 ''56 659 

677 

Surplus Revenue 575 

SUKKV 276287 359462 

Sutherland, David 263 264 

Si/TTON 558 

Swain 348 523 524 614 

SwaJne, William 98 

Swan, Josiah 213 

SWANZEV 206220 221 .^34 336 

Swayn 133 
Swayne, Richard 4S 
Sweden 262 4S1 
Sweeney, Brj-ant _^oi 633 
Sweet, Joseph 133 134 
Swete, George 9S 
Swett 89 97 
Swift Creek 627 
Swine 31. 
Switzerland 20 
Syll, Joseph S7 
Symmes, Thomas 155 
Symmetry (ship) 323 
Symonds 47 52 
Syria 520 

Tabor, Jeremiah 583 
Tapgart 142 335 3.S8 
Talbot, William K. 212 
Taler, Henr>' 47 
Tales of Wavside Inu 192 
Talford, John 147 
Tallant, James 4S4 

John 
Tamworth 15s 
Tappan iiS 164 612 613 
Tarhon 12S 
Tasket, William 99 
Taxes 313 

Taylor or Tayler 48 97 98 99 "43 

276 2S0 285 442 445 520 524 599 

609 



Tea 292 

Teachers 100 
Tebbets, N. C. 35, 

lBMPLB.;2 28733,33,38,^^ 
John 424 ■"' S05 525 

Tli'm'.'^''?"' "^ '-5 

I ei.th Regiment 625 630 644 

Terrel>„„ Dover Cfuuxh 65 
1 exas 59, 5,3 5,5 

1 lanksgiving 498 50s 
Ihayer 59-1,8628 
School 521 

Thorn ,43-,96 337 3 

1 homas 9S 334 36s 387 
rhomhnson ,75 ,7, ',s„ ,s^ ,5^ 

Thompson 24-30 43 9,,, s;,t?64 



. /"rnbuji, Joumh", 34, 
1 lAs, Joseph 259 2to" 

1 "Cke, Robert 48 ^ 

1 ucker 55 ,00 128 

I uckerrnan. E. 37 

luctoii23o 

Tnflon Robert 50 ,, 

ItiftoliborouEh jtS 
.];"f<^'.a.arleTA'.'^„ 
Jiillock6i4 

T,;rl;™'^'--"3^M6.5 

River 607 

urncr MS 267 268 
TS'lof"^" 

Sfihfcl? '?!''? ■OS 



T>i,.|fi'l, u •'' "'"^ ""S Villieii ' 

l«Uf.h Regiment 6.662062. 6,6 vlll;^ 37 
■^ ■ *=? 630 Virsiii, Eb.ncj 



XI." 

Varnum, John ,3, 
Vaurtrenil, M„„'»,, 

Veaxey, H^„V);',4'""^"'"J' 
Venii.ird 128 "^ 
Vera Cnn (,jo 
verauaiio 20 
Vennoiil .8 m in, ,,« 

28n«.>?, ,'"•*'"" 

.X V* ^ > i'l°i'IHl2 41c 4ih 

Vernon 210 '"' 

via,%''.f'" 

Villien,Slour<le,.4 



■>"" '» '■» M2 .64 
■94 .9630. 33436. 365 377 3„6 
T.mt'?;'^'' \^5 572 599 604 6'.6 650 
1HOK.NTON, Malthew,43 2,, J 

Thurs,or,"ffie\%y'^°'^''S=7 
lliiirhen, rhonias 97 
Tlbbetts, Jeremiah 99 

widow 99 
Ticonderosa 230 236 237 24 
244-24629134836538242 



Tw.lchell, c;. B. 627 
Iwoniley, Ralph 99' 
Tyler 578 
Tyng .6. 2.3 
Tyng's Island 4,1, 
lyiige, William 52 
iyngsborougb 510 



V.-i..ua 2, 3, 64 252 jfio 3,0 3,5 
4'7 47i47»5JJ 



Underbill 40 4 
Union 165 4.2 



Tulman. Thomas 98 ^^^ 

Tdden Rev. 5S3 
T.U,t Peace of 487 

TlLTON 5„ 654 
11110097,3443, 
llngsborough 5,0 

Tippecanoe 578 

Tippen, Bartholomew or 

Titi.s H. B. 5,6 62s 

Tobin 633 ^ 

Toby ,55 

Todd ,5= 

Toleialion 69 

Tolford, Joh|^a7 

t clopotomy 613 
Torn, Captain 81 
Tombs, Rev. S. ,73 
Tomk,ns, Mary 6, 
Toppan 403 4oS 439 
Topsfield 2,5 
Tones 276 280 344 345 355 3^3 391 

Toronto, Ont. 640 '''' ''» =' 

Tower of London ,03 

^""'^97.28.46489 

I own Marks 54 
Towns, Ezra 334 336 

lownsend, Charles 297 
Tracy, Uriah 474 
Trafalgar 487 
Trail. Robert 424 
Transcript, Boston 562 
Trask, Nathaniel 197 
Treasury Dept. 575 6.4 
1 ifcothick, Bartow 21:1 
Tr-fethen .28 

Trewo-i.^fa^''"'"' 
Triminingk 57 58 .35 

Incklt 99 ,15 
Trinity College J90 

I rowbndue, Edward 299 
1 me Jacob 286 
True], David 526 



W.iddcll, John .0, 
Wadleigh-i4 6.r46 
Wadley, Robert 9.s,„7,„8 
W.i(,.ncr, Ion 6.9 524 

46.45408677 willr.^f^^t^' 

•■4 479 557 6"5,3 W.aLV;:^""^'' 

"nw:;f£;r"S^M8 74 
wa!:i^t'3'^r34''^ 

WaWro., 47 48 52-54 56 6. 66 67 
76 87-S, 94-,^ ,„o.,„3 ,^7 
■03 ..o ... .,j ,„ iis.ijj 

Waldron's Mill '"439 455 

Wales 94 

w"!I.°"' t' 57 59 .21 .21! 
VV.alker48.o9.,3,4,,,6,35,^ 

Joseph B. 229 J39 J50 
Innolhy .64.66222-22425026, 

Wall 47 48 



Manchester 665 

Armv 5.2 6.5 

lianli 466 

democrat 652 

Locks 5.0 

Seminary 5,85 
United Colonics 376 
United States ,65 394 396 399 ,- 
4074.24.54, 7419 422 423 425 

l-^:jJ'-'5° 45- 466472474480 

4». 489493 49450, 505 S06 tio 
5'3-5"5520 524-526533 ,4, U. 
565 577 586 597 599 &4 6,'. sVa 
Bank 438 *■"■ '''■' 

Cabinet 520 
Court 293 48. 
Navy 6,3 630 

Senate ,96 429 465 466 474 4S4 

485 499S74SSssS6 594(x>5 6o5 

.»' 6,. 5.3 676 

Treasury 575 ^ ' 

Unitarians 462 559 566 59S 

Umtv 279 462 677 

Umversalist 260 26. 264 429 527 

U|^jversity of Aberdeen 298^^^ '* 

Uph.™ 4S9-4^''5o"5'o!5".. 558568 I W.'ijh!; 

Upper Ashuelot 206 207 220 «.^^' 

Snh'tJV"' "' "'' "* "•* 1 1"'^',.''' *3 "* 
Ammonoosuc 234 wf {''•■Pa'"'"'<="' 672 

Urania 5,6 ^* w j",?^"^' ^52 

Usher, John .07 ..9 .2, ,„ ,,8. lv^'f\*^ 53 

.34 ,J5 3^ ""* ■'^ "" '9' "' 322 323 325 



Wallace .43 239 285 337 40S 5,3 

Wallaston, Mount ,2 '^ 

Wallingtord, Thomas 2.. 
VV.-,,lisorWallcs.28.42,53 
Walhng's Map 235 ' 

Walnut Hill ^4, f=(, 

WaLPOLE 206 2.9 3,5 387 407 4,0 

W.-,llpoleR.R'V2r '"'"'"''' 

Waltham, Mass. 333 

Walton 47 48 .08 1.9 ,28 .53 ,75 



r, , '32 134 .36 .18 

^Robert .56.58.59 ^ 



277 

•ciit I 



Valentine, John .33 
Valley Academy 650 
Valley Forge 1.(5 349 
)^a„J.,ren,Ma,tin565 577S78 
iderbili, Commodore 563 



W,arning,0n..3„, "°"l'" 
Warn-hr 33849465- 653 
Harncrton Thomas 35 47 52 ;6 
\VAR.iKN28. 27928340S654 
VVarren 200 20. 326 330 38S 
W.xs.i.NCTON 565 654 
W.ashington, D. C. 4.3 500 504 605 
5.0 6.2 6.4 6.9 622 643 64S Hn 

e ort 404 496 

George .93 .94 233 250 ,86 J87 
304 343 346 J49 353-355 35* 



■Oa 



T' 



Washington, George Continued. 
359 3<>3-3'>6 372 373 380 383 
3.;o-392 396 399 412 420 422- 
425 426 435 447-449 46" 462 
470481 500522 550597619650 
669 670671 
Mount 303 305 
Watanic 131 

Walerhouse, Richard 100 
Waterloo 634 
Waterman, Silas 264 
Watertown, Mass. 54 299 459 682 
Watson 99 132 432 
Watts, Kicharci 100 
Waiigh, Joseph 196 
Waumbech, Methna 269 
Waunalancet 83 88 89 1 10 
WEARE279337338654 
Weare 101 129 134 142 348 379 381 
3S9 
Meshech 301 347-349 368 370 
372 377379388-390403 408412 
425 445 446 569 
Nathaniel 97 98 loi 104 105 122 
134 162 347 348 420 
Wearing long hair 80 
Weathersfield, Vt. 674 
Webber, Richard 100 
Webster 70 97 117 118 128 146 270 
284 2S8 310 388 430 467 546 553 
554 
Daniel 117284 285 481 483 485 
496499 500 510 511 514515521 
554 586 595 646 666 667 
Ebenezer 117 128 284-287552553 
Ezekiel 239 2?7 449 464 543 55' 
57S 
Place 553 554 
Wecanacohunt 44 
Wedgewood 48 98 107 
Weeks 132 259 272 279 368 458 494 
600 660 670 
Weirs 55 256 
Weir, Robert 138 142 
Weld 213 

Weldon R. R. 623 
Wellman, Jesse 334 
Wells 261 262 276 358 

Maine 42 69 70 117 
Welman 437 
Welsh 94 171 672 
Welch 98 197 6^2 633 
Wenboum, William 48 53 
Wentworth 660 679 281-283 620 
Wentworth 48 99 iii 131 189 191 
192 194 207 228 2S7 293-295 
334 352 380 408 420 421 534 
684 685 
Eenning 174 175 176183 184 1S8 
189 194 197 198204205211228 
234 249 253 259 268 281 282 
352 448 602 684 
John 137 147 152 194 207211 253 
291 293 207 300 302 305 317 
350-352 366 369 380 406 420 
421 424 428 433 445 446 519 531 
569 684 685 
Joseph 613 681 684 
Wesley, John 457 458 522 
Weslevan University 459 682 
West '45 1 

Andover 473 475 576 
Concord 166 
Dunstable 57 167 



West India 178 200 202 252 295 
473 478 631 666 
Peterborough 591 

Point 345 392 393 407 520 521 
550 618 624 627 

Riding 453 

River 211 

Virginia 628 

Woodstock 598 
Westbrook 15^ 165 
Westcot, Daniel 100 
Western Brigade 491 

States 544 
Westmoreland 306 221 334 462 499 
Westminster, Vt. 577 
Wetmore, Nath. D. 592 
Weston 156-158 

James A. 657 658 662 687 
Weymouth, Mass. 657 _ 
Weymouth, Capt 23. 
Whalley, Col. 63 
Wheat, Thomas 340 
Wheaton, George 281 
Wheeler 118483 555667 
Wheelock, Eleazer 264 280 516 
5.85.9 

General 50S 5.0 5.6 
Wheelwright, John 40-42 48 53 69 
70 141 

Pond 1.3 
Whldden .00 

Whig 280 505 50S 564 572 577 579 

586 595 596 601 605 607 609 

646 

Whipping Indians 80 

Whipple 276 305 388 389 420 424 

566 599 612 6.3 619 620 

Joseph 133 279 305-307 328 345 

368 389 420 

Whitcher 318-600 

Whitcomb 276 324 332 334 385 — 

White 100 128 147 .95 274 283 302 

421 439 472 600 663 6S5 692 

Hills 35-37 

House 552 

Jeremiah W. 692 693 

Mountains 18 19 36 414 632 669 

Mountain Notch 304 306 534 

River Vt. 576 
Whitefield 301-305 

George 70 192 204 302 303 522 
523 
Whitehall 182 20. 
Whitehouse 99 676 
Whittier, John G. 60 572 
Whiting 156 157 159275276 
Whitelaw-James 464 
Whitney 277 524 
Whittlemore, Aaron 172 267 566 
Whitton 150 554 
Wibird, Richard 211 423 
Wicasie Falls 476 5.0 
Wiccarsee Locks 5.0 
Wiggin 29 35 3840 43 45 46 48 52- 
54 59 73 76 85 97 98 105 
Wilbraham 682 
Wilcox 264 276 
Wilder 279 286 

Wilderness, Battle of 623 626 652 
Wilkins 134 176 333 527 620 
Wilkinson 3S5 388 
WiUard 54 56 57 65 207 279 
WiUey 99 433 524 670 
William & Mary 110 



Wjlliam of Orange 107 139 631 - 
Williams 39 41 43 46 47 52 53 70 76. 
100 387 4.4 sg8 
Williamsburg 360 614 620 
Williss, Mrs. 54 
Wilson 48 98 142 147 
Wilmington, N. C. 6ig 620 
WiLMoT 473 475 

Wilson 142 145 147 148 52862S630 
James 565 578 579 5S0 595 657 

W ILTON 209 271 272 274 661 662 

Wiltshire 272 

WlN-CHESTER 207 219 388 392 654 

Va. 62 8 
Wincot, Captain loi 
Wiiigate 103 .33 394 40S 418 5^2 
Windham 141 187 195 196 262 337 
408 564 
Windicott, Jno. 99 
Windsor, Vt. 465 
Winfield 145^ 
Winford, Ezekiel 99 
Winn 212 339 

Winnipiseogee 20 22 51 55 111 143 
155185205256300509553600 
Wmnichaunet 24 
Winnicumeh 42 
Winslow, Governor 53 64 81 
Winter Hill 343 345 353 407 
Winthrop 25 38 40 45-47 74-76 119 
Wiscasset, Me. 4.9 
Witch Brook Valley 57 167 
Witchcraft 57 
Withers, Thomas 47 
Wobum, Mass. 56 147 .56 164 289 
468603 
Wood .77259340 558 
Woods 156 158 172 174 17s 
Woodbridge, Col. 331 
Woodbury 337 540 592 605 

Charles Levi 20 24 

Levi 511 515 538-542 552 565 585 
600650 651 
Woodman 108 130 172 667 6S5 
Woodstock 279 _ 
Woodwell 207 
Wooster, Lydia 358 

WOLFEEOROUGH 253 30O 352 654 

Women's Dress 80 

Worcester 213 308 310 348 419 626 

Mass. 645 % 

County 324 
Worthen, Ezekiel 351 
Wright 4898 177628 
Wriswall, Captain 113 
Wrisley, Mary 283 
Wyman .56-159 375 

Yale College 280 435 499 651 

Yankee 38. 

Yarmouth, Eng. 40 70 

Yeaton 128 

Yerrington, William gg 

Yokohama, Japan 6.4 

York2i 113-1153463S34.9667 

County, Me. 300 
Yorkshire, Eng. 453 

Me. 66 
Yorktown 346 347 359 360 449 615 
620 634 

Scammel 360 
Young 98 99 209 275 414 520 624 
Youngraen, Ebenezer 340 



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